Meredith Storm: Drifters
by AvariceMoonMoon
Summary: Meredith Storm is the newest member of the Drifter gang of thieves with a mysterious origin. All five thieves have faced his or her own trials in life from Gotham to Metropolis. What was originally a stop on the road to riches and fame became the gang leader's vendetta of an unhealed grudge against the Joker. Will the madness and terrors of Gotham's most wanted consume the gang?
1. Chapter 1: Eye of the Dragon

**CHAPTER ONE: EYE OF THE DRAGON**

Leaning on the rusted rail of the apartment balcony in the Amusement Mile area of Gotham City, I gazed down at the cracked sidewalks and street ten stories down. My pixie short, black hair waved in the wind, tickling my forehead. Looking up to the sky, I saw another storm was coming. The clouds were dark grey with a blue tone over the river in the distance… like my eyes. The sun rarely graced Gotham with its presence with the pollution mixing with the cold fronts. _Fine with me. I don't like the sun. It blinds you and made things hot. I am content to wear a black t-shirt and cargo pants in weather like this._

I gazed back down to the sidewalk below.

 _Looking down is always such a funny sensation. I always imagined what it would be like to fall-to imagine the trajectory... If you spin or tumble in the air- maybe hit a bird or a person or something. At first you think it would be like a dream fall where you are just dazed to be in the dream, but in reality your whole body would be clenched. I personally would in all likelihood scream the whole way down. It's not because of the fall itself, really it's just the tensing reaction of your entire being that's very uncomfortable... that roller coaster drop that usually ends with a splat on the ground. Splat is probably putting it kindly in terms of noises that our anatomy makes... It's probably more like a crunch of a spider... except with more blood._

Someone touched my shoulder suddenly, making me jump. "You gonna fly, Meredith?" Mark asked with his deep voice, chuckling.

"Only in my dreams," I said, smirking while standing up to look at him.

Mark was so tall that he had to duck under the doorway of the balcony so it didn't mess up his spiky blue hair. His Asian, possibly Japanese, heritage showed in his round face and slightly narrow, brown eyes that sparkled in the light. Most of the time, he wore a brown jacket with several pockets inside and outside. He was somewhere in his thirties, and I was 23. That mischievous smile of his was such a wonderful smile.

"Come on inside, Kiddo. We got something for ya'." He put his arm around me and steered me back inside where the rest of the Drifter gang was. Lucyfer and Tim were gathered around the kitchen island in the shabby, studio apartment, the kind of temporary base we used for planning heists.

Lucyfer was the small and thin metalhead with long blonde hair, red highlights, and a fuck you attitude. Her brown eyes, shrouded in black makeup, held me in their gaze as I entered. Her bright red lipstick brought attention to her thin lips that were occasionally held in a firm line. Her R.I.P. DREAMS band t-shirt was a bit worn but still legible. She worked most deals with fences and anyone that wanted to give us a job. Whatever she said, you better do it. In her downtime, she would shred her black, bass guitar that was sitting in the corner of the living area.

"Hey, Mere," said Lucyfer, wearing her resting bitch face. Not that she's an all-out bitch. She's cool, but she has a hardened face that tough people sometimes have. She was older than me but younger than Mark, and she had all our respect.

Tim also looked serious, but that was also just Tim in general. He was a little taller than Lucyfer, but nowhere near as tall as the almost mountainous Mark. His eyes were a magnificent green and he had no hair other than his silvered goatee. We didn't know much about him since he didn't talk. I just know that Tim had extremely amazing ninja skills and had to be in his forties. He's an expert climber and fighter and a paragon of silence. When he wasn't working, he was drawing in his little notepad that he kept in his pocket. You couldn't really tell what race he was exactly, so you kind of just assume he's American.

"What's up?" I replied to Lucyfer.

"We got a little job for you, Mere." Lucyfer showed me a email on her black laptop that was from a contact called Ollie. I hadn't met her yet, but she was Lucyfer's hacker friend that would send us schematics on places we were casing for heists. Ollie had sent a newspaper clipping of the Pinkney Museum's hottest addition,"The Dragon's Eye Ruby".

I looked up to Lucyfer, Mark, and Tim. "You... want me to scout out the Pinkney Museum for the Dragon's Eye?" I asked.

"We want you to steal it... this week," said Lucyfer with a red smirk.

I chuckled nervously. "Uhh...you want me to steal a priceless gem from the Pinkney Museum that's owned by The Penguin who sells us all our black market stuff and fences our loot in Gotham-and brutally tortures and murders anyone who tries to steal from him? Do I have this right?"

"Yeah," said Lucyfer, with a nod.

"Okay, then," I said, scratching my neck.

"We all like you, Kid. I had my doubts when Mark picked you off the street a few months back-you were nothing but rags and quivering silence-but so was Tim when Mark picked him up. You got guts, smarts, great music taste... You're loyal and armed to the goddamn teeth-but you can't ride bitch forever. I'm ready to burn the bridge between us and that birdy bastard who has been shitting all over us. We'll be moving on from Gotham in about a month, and someone wants the Dragon's Eye ruby pretty bad... enough to offer 10 million euros, which is also 14 million American dollars. You either get the ruby or you're out. Prove your salt... And you get 70%."

"Wow," I said, feeling a bit overwhelmed. I looked down at the island's counter surface.

 _One. My cut was usually 25%. Two. Penguin will rip me apart if I'm caught. Three. Most importantly, these people were my only friends in the world. They saved me from the streets. Without them, I would be right back in that hell… alone with the self-hatred._

"You can do it," said Mark, smiling softly. "You can still talk schematics with Ollie so you can plan something out. Your money is still your money. You just have to walk in that museum alone... and come out victorious with the Dragon's Eye."

"Okay." I sighed. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, that should be fine," said Lucyfer. "I'll shoot Ollie an email. Good luck." She walked over to her laptop and her phone rang. "What?... Stop calling me. Dammit, I'm busy!" She typed into her laptop and kept talking on the phone quietly.

Tim gazed at me silently with those aging, green eyes for a moment before he pulled out his little notepad and started drawing in it.

"Grab your jacket and a helmet," said Mark, heading toward the door.

I picked my dark blue jacket and helmet from the couch. We headed down ten flights of stairs.

"Penguin is going to scream for your head," Mark said, winking at me with his long, black lashes.

"I bet," I said, grimly.

"But he won't get it-anymore than he'll get the Batman's head."

I shuddered. "When you say that, I immediately imagine him sucking the eyeballs out for some reason."

"Mmm... good eating."

I chuckled. "Gross."

"Well, it must be if they're the first things to go on a carcass."

"I suppose."

He stopped on the fifth floor. "Hey," Mark said to me, looking a little serious.

"What?"

"You got this." He punched my arm.

"Yeah," I said frowning.

"You got this." He punched other arm again.

"Ow," I said, a little amused yet frowning.

"You got this." He poked the spot around my heart. "And this." He poked my forehead. "All of those are amazing and helped us solve so many problems. Remember Christmas Bonus?"

"When we took a donation from that slimy Gothcorp CEO?" I kept walking downstairs.

"Yeah. We lost our vehicle to some car thief?"

"Ugh."

"The cops were coming in. You spotted a snow plow, got him to pull over, and we borrowed his vehicle, leaving him passed out in the passenger seat. Police didn't notice shit until we got away with it."

We chuckled.

"Even managed to give the ol' Bat a slip, too," he added.

I smirked but it faded. "Yeah." _Batman will catch up to us if we stay in this city too long... He is the world's greatest detective... and we're a somewhat notorious, small gang of thieves... Sigh... If you knew half the things I knew, Mark._

"You worried about the Bat, then?" He asked.

"Eh," I said with a shrug. "It's whatever, Mark. I'm not backing out of this... You guys are all the family I have-I'd still be in the gutter if it wasn't for you."

"Maybe... especially with the way this city has treated you," said Mark bitterly.

"Yeah," I murmured.

"You still haven't told me about what happened-not that you need to... You always seem to be thinking a lot. If you need someone to listen, let me know, okay?"

"Thanks... I suppose I could tell you I spent time at... Arkham Asylum before the streets. I was very depressed."

"Why?"

"Felt like I was pretty worthless and that no one wanted me around. It's been in my life for a long time."

"Well, you've been pretty far from worthless as long as I've known you. You were so willing to be helpful with the heists-even so far as to tackle a stray guard before he set off the alarm. You always got some good suggestions for problems we have on the road. It's hard to imagine how we got along without you."

That warmed my heart. "Thanks, Mark."

"You're very welcome, Meredith." We reached the ground floor and stepped out the door to head to the parking garage.

"So, meet any of those Arkham celebrities?" He asked, smirking.

"Not really. Those guys were in wards with extreme security while I was in general population of criminal crazies. I suppose at one point, I got in some trouble and caught a glimpse of Killer Croc in Intensive Treatment."

"He isn't really... a giant crocodile man that eats people, right?" Mark asked. "I sometimes don't know when you Gothamites are joking."

"He is," I said with a nod. "He's like twelve feet tall, covered in green, alligator-like scales, buff as hell, sharp teeth, bright yellow eyes... They keep a shock collar on him because he's too big to subdue. Since there's no cell strong enough to hold him, they keep him down in a closed-off section of the sewers. They drop meat down there every few days. As for eating people, there's a guard there named Cash who handled Croc. In the early days, Killer Croc bit his hand off."

"You're shitting me." He got on his motorcycle.

I got on behind him. "No. Dead serious. He's got a hook hand now."

He chuckled. "Pfft. Come on. Like Captain Hook?"

"I'm not kidding. He eats people-completely embraces being the monster he looks like. Even says," I leaned in to whisper, "'tick, tock, tick, tock, time to feed the croc.'"

"Uuuugh." He shuddered and put on his helmet. I followed suit and we headed to the suburbs a little outside of Gotham. It was a nice drive, even with the bits of rain.

We stopped at Ollie's blue house that was tucked in a hidden path. He parked the bike outside, left his helmet on the handlebar, and shook his spiky, blue hair out. I took my helmet off as well before we walked around the back to find the basement door. It had a mounted camera and the door was heavy duty to say the least.

Mark looked to me. "She's paranoid, so don't touch anything she doesn't say to touch."

"Okay."

"Come in, Mark," a low female voice spoke from an intercom.

"Oh," said Mark, surprised.

There was a buzzing noise and Mark opened the door.

We stepped inside and there was a strong smell of incense. ... possibly lavender... also a hint of some smoked tobacco... maybe some weed. There were various monitors, drives and tech equipment set up all around on lab tables that reminded me of school. There was even a copier/fax machine-the kind you see in offices. The floor was some orange 70's tile and the walls were definitely tan and orange 70's wallpaper. Although, you couldn't see a ton of the wall paper with all the cords intricately secured to the walls. Any bare spots were covered with various music and movie posters including "The Terror" starring Basil Karlo (known these days as Clayface). The room was like a heavy entertainment basement with a cushy-looking hammock on a stand in the corner. Techno music was playing at a moderate level from the speakers set up in the corners of the ceiling

Mark and I walked up to Ollie and waited while she messed around on the computer.

After about a minute, she stopped to look at me with her hazel eyes and frowned. "I know you." Her voice was fairly monotone and low.

I frowned.

"University?"

"Never been," I said.

"Asylum or Blackgate?"

"I've been to both. Blackgate for theft and battery... Asylum for severe depression and my time was extended after I beat up Dr. Giovanni-"

"-Dr. Date-Rape. Right! I was there, too, but I never dealt with Dr. Date-Rape personally when I was in the asylum. I did run into Dr. Scarecrow though, years back when he still had his license."

"Yikes."

She looked back to her computer. "Yep. Can't leave my house for shit anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as he's going to be. Gonna fuck him up as soon as I figure out where he lives. But he's always moving." She shook her head, making her pink curls bounce

That didn't click in my brain.

"How are you gonna screw him up if you're too scared to leave the house?" Mark asked, also confused.

"I'll mail him a nail bomb or something," said Ollie, looking back to her computer. "Like my last landlord. Results were fantastic. Have a seat." She indicated to chairs in front of the projector. "Hubris, lights at half," she said, clearly.

Mark and I sat down and the lights automatically dimmed.

"You don't remember me?" Ollie asked.

"Can't say I do," I said. "I'm sorry."

"You say 'I'm sorry' too much. And probably because you had the fuck-me drugs... Dr. Date-Rape's dead right?"

"Stone cold," I said flatly. _You are painfully blunt..._

"Hmm, last time I was in there, I had Dr. Gretchen Whistler. Wasn't too bad for being a stiff bat." She imitated Dr. Whistler's German accent. "'That's a very pessimistic way of thinking, Ollie.'"

Ollie turned on the projector. "Well, anyway, let me show you what I gathered." She showed a map of the Pinkney museum with different colored markings. There were a lot of red ones along the halls, four big blue squares, and yellow lines.

She stepped up to the white board. "Okay, the red ones are all the cameras, blue squares are security desks, yellow are the ventilation ducts. During the museum hours of 9-5, Mondays through Saturdays, there are ten security guards/thugs, and during closed hours there are thirty thugs because of robbery possibilities and Iceberg Lounge is usually open. The Lounge is the major money maker of that place because rich people like to blow their money on being rich-museum entry is like five bucks. If you go during the day, you're more likely to be spotted but less likely to be murdered viciously on the spot. If you go at closed time, there are more thugs that might not be following a proper patrol or paying attention."

"Is there a lost and found?" I asked.

She blinked and stared at me. "Why?"

"If a lost item is left at the desk and not thrown out instantly, that could be used as a distraction if I wait to detonate at night."

"Hmm." She considered this. "Not a bad idea... As long you can get through the glass without setting off an alarm. Hell, the instant a guard senses something off-alarm goes off, security gates dropped. Museum lockdown until perpetrator is found. You would have a maximum of ten seconds to get out of that room with the ruby."

"Hmm. Windows?"

"Three-inch plexiglass. Penguin spares no expense. So, unless you want to try to blow your way out or in? Stick to the vents."

Vents are always an option.

"Any idea who might want to jump for it?" I asked.

"Catwoman and anyone else that wants to try their hand at fucking with Penguin," said Ollie. "I mean there's an offer for 10 Million Euros." She sighed. "For a pretty rock." She said, throwing up her arms.

"Well, it has some history and is pretty rare," said Mark.

"That's just a selling point. That's a 10 million euro rock. 14 million American dollars. I just-I don't get people. I'm not complaining, but it's not how I'd spend my money."

"Well, there is some risk to it."

"Yeah, but I'd cap it at $500,000. They really want that pretty rock."

"People like their rocks," I said, shrugging. "They sell weddings and shit." I sighed. "Personally, I hate how everyone wants diamonds."

"Oh my God. Me too," said Ollie. "If everyone's getting it, how valuable is it really? How unique is it to your marriage and eternity together?"

"I mean is it a 10 million euro ruby unique?" Mark asked.

We all chuckled and sighed.

Probably make some fakes in case someone else wants to get it. "What alarms are on the case?"

"If you so much as bump the glass, the alarm will go off. Gem is on a pressure plate that will set off an alarm if moved. Clip the wires to those alarms while the wire alarm is armed and the alarm will go off."

"Jeez. How is the alarm disarmed?"

"Fingerprint code. Two tries and alarm goes off."

"Can the actual noise be silenced?"

"Hmm, I suppose if you cut power to the speakers, but that will still cause flashing lights. Oh and there are floor lasers in the room that will set off alarms. Penguin knows where throw his money."

"Okay, and who is out of Arkham right now?"

"Oh, let's see... Victor Zsasz, Mad Hatter, Clayface, the Joker, and Harley Quinn."

"No Killer Croc?" Mark asked.

"No Killer Croc," Ollie confirmed. "Also, if you are caught, Penguin will probably break your fingers, make you eat your teeth, and feed you to Tiny the shark if he's feeling nice."

"Okay... I'm starting to get a picture in my head. Thanks, Ollie." _Sewers should be open for a quick escape if needed._

"Don't mention it. Seriously. I want to die in my sleep in the comfort of my home. Burn after reading." She handed me a file with maps. "Hubris. Lights at full." The lights returned to full.

"Got it. Thanks."

"Whoa wait a minute!" Mark said. "Penguin has a shark named Tiny?"

"Yeah, a Great White," I said.

"Yep," said Ollie... "I'm sure he'd be tickled to death if he fed Great White Shark to Tiny."

I chuckled.

Mark looked at me, confused. "What?"

I explained. "Great White Shark is a guy. He's kind of like a smaller Black Mask except he manages his business while institutionalized at Arkham Asylum. He's called Great White Shark because he lost his lips and became very pale because he got shoved into Mr. Freeze's freezer."

"Ooh," said Mark, wincing. "How does this shit keep happening at this hospital?"

"It's Arkham," Ollie and I said at the same time.

"Jinx," said Ollie.

"Okay then," said Mark. "... Shit like this doesn't happen in Metropolis or anywhere for that matter."

"Well, Gotham also has a sister city called Bludhaven," said Ollie. "But nah, Metropolis just has aliens, mutations, and Lex Luthor's shenanigans." She chuckled dryly.

"Yeah, but we don't have people being fed to sharks and becoming sharks and- I mean holy shit."

"You've seen nothing yet. Now unless you need something else, get out. I'm gonna stay here and smoke." Ollie picked up a pipe and started packing it with what I assumed was tobacco.

We walked out the basement door and Mark closed it behind us firmly. "I think she might like you," he said as we walked along.

"She does?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, I mean who wouldn't?"

I smirked. "Penguin when I steal the Dragon's Eye?"

He chuckled.

The next several days were a blur. I spent the rest of the day setting up my strategy and getting a list of things I needed like I had seen the gang do several times before, in our months together. The following day, I gathered up the supplies I was missing, including three fake rubies made of glass, three smoke bombs, a sleep dart gun, three grenades and three knives. On the third day, I scouted the museum physically as a casual museum goer, taking note of ventilation duct cover locations. I also left a noise-maker bag behind. One of Ollie's creations, when detonated, it would set off a bunch of fireworks, a smoke bomb, and then, some C-4.

On the night of the heist, I geared up in my navy blue, cat suit outfit and navy blue, ski mask. I climbed through the cold vents from the roof and eventually reached the room with the ruby.

Some asshole was already lowering himself over the ruby, about to work on the glass. His suspending rope, attached to his harness, was hanging around the duct I was in. I only knew he was a guy because of the overwhelming smell of men's cologne. The smell was horrid-like smelly feet and some sort of minty cologne.

Irritated, I pulled out my big, bowie knife and cut him down in one slice.

With a soft cry, he thumped on the glass, making the glass alarm scream. When he rolled onto the floor and set off the floor lasers alarm, the alarm became even louder. As I gazed down, I saw that the glass was cracked and slipped back in case he looked up.

"Fuck it," he said. I heard him smack the glass with a blunt tool several times, eventually breaking the glass.

The alarm blared even louder, and I covered my ears in irritation.

Ten security thugs came running in with their guns out.

The thief held up the ruby. "Don't shoot or I'll smash it!" He said.

"Smash it and it's your funeral, Pal," said the thugs. "Hand it over and we might leave enough life in you to crawl like a baby."

The cologne thief suddenly threw it at them and ran away with that broken rope trailing after him.

 _What the fuck are you doing, you Moron? Who just throws a gem and runs away?!_ I replaced the vent cover during all the commotion so they wouldn't be eyeing my position as a breach.

One guard dove for the ruby and pointed to two guards. "Rugby and Niel! You two stay with me! The rest of you catch him!

"You got it, Paulie," They all said almost simultaneously.

The other seven ran after the male thief I successfully subdued.

"How did he get in here anyway?" One of the guards asked.

"Mitch, turn off that alarm!" Paulie said on the radio.

The alarm was turned off.

"Goddamn," said Paulie with a sigh. "That noise kills my ears!"

"I think I heard somewhere that you can't break a ruby," the third guard commented.

"Well, I'm not about to take that chance. That rock is worth 14 million dollars."

The third whistled.

"If that ruby broke, Penguin would have my head and break all your legs."

"Heh, I can only imagine what he'll do to that poor schmuck."

I pulled out my detonator and set off the lost and found. Then, I moved the cover out of my way.

"Bogey in lost and found!" said Mitch, with high pitched noises in the background.

"What, Mitchell?" Paulie asked. He waited. "Mitchell?"

Two minutes later, we heard a boom across the building.

"What's that noise, Mitch?!" Paulie shouted on the radio. "Mitch?"

I quietly dropped down on the floor while their backs were turned, tossing off a smoke bomb. It went off and I grabbed the ruby while they were startled and coughing.

"What the hell is going on?!" Paulie shouted, coughing.

Quietly, I approached a floor vent grate, popped it open, entered, and replaced the grate, Then I headed through the Iceberg Lounge, unbeknownst to the Penguin or any of the happy restaurant-goers below. I smirked. _Hehehe._

Then, I saw someone round the corner in the vent ahead of me. It was Catwoman. _Uh-oh._

She saw me and smirked. "Well, well, what do we have here?" She purred. "You wouldn't happen to be Lucyfer's new girl would you?"

"How the hell would you know that?" I asked, quietly.

"People talk. Rumor has it that the Dragon's Eye is your initiation."

"No one outside of the Drifter gang should know that," I said, frowning.

"Must have a leak then."

"WHAT?!" Penguin squawked from the lounge.

Catwoman's smile faded for a second.

We looked through a vent cover and saw the Penguin yelling at one of his thugs.

Then, she smirked at me. "It's getting cozy in here. Let's head to the roof."

We climbed through the vents and hopped out to the roof.

"So did you get the ruby?" Catwoman asked.

"Hah, did I get the ruby?" I repeated sarcastically, shaking my head. "Yes."

"Can I see it?"

"Uh... sure. I guess." I pulled out one of the fakes in a bag and held it up, allowing her to see just a glint of red.

"Way to go..." She snatched the bag from me and ran away.

"Hey! That's not fair" I called after her.

"Never trust a thief!" She shouted after me before jumping off.

 _I never do…_ I smirked and turned around to see Robin flying at me.

Quickly, I got out of his path and threw down my second smoke bomb. I jumped off the roof and landed on the Iceberg lounge's covered entrance. I bounced off the top and landed near the line of people waiting to get in. Then, I ran down into an alley and hopped into an open manhole, down in the sewers.

 _Thankfully, Killer Croc was in Arkham. There shouldn't be any attempts to eat my bones for intruding in his domain._ Swift on my feet, I headed towards Park Row, staying out of the disgusting, water waste flowing along.

As I was about to make my turn towards Amusement Mile, I pulled my mask off and pulled on cargo pants and a jacket over my cat suit.

"Beware the jabberwock, my dear, the jaws that bite, the claws that snatch..." a soft male voice sung with a slight British accent.

 _Those lyrics are Wonderland-related... sounds like Mad Hatter..._

It was coming from the other tunnel, adjacent to my turn. _I should mind my business... but what if he's taken another poor girl to be his Alice..._ I sighed.

Unable to quell my curiosity, I tip-toed toward the source.

"...Beware the Jubjub Bird and shun the frumious Bandersnatch..."

I peered around the corner and saw two thugs wearing rabbit masks. Casually, I pulled out my dart gun and shot them. They struggled for a moment, and passed out on the ground. I popped off the rabbit masks on their faces, keeping one for myself. I pulled off the mind-manipulating mechanisms and walked down the tunnel to see the Mad Hatter with his giant green hat was having a picnic with an uneasy Alice in a sewer control hub in the middle of a pool.

I put the rabbit mask on in case anyone looked my way and set my bag aside in a hidden spot. My shoulders were broad just enough to get me confused for a thug, especially from a distance.

The entire place was decked out in wonderland decor. Entire forest drops were hanging on the walls. One drop had the Cheshire Cat on a branch. The White Rabbit was on the ground. Several other rabbit thugs were standing by the other three tunnels.

Humming to himself, the Mad Hatter, also known as Jervis Tetch, seemed to be in a merry mood. His dirty blonde hair was kinda greasy under his tall top hat and he was drinking from a tea cup with his gloved hands. Jervis was the creepiest if not saddest being I have ever known of. A lonely man that had a powerful obsession for Wonderland characters, armed with advanced mind control drugs and technology. He was like any child that wanted to live in a fairy tale world that was more beautiful and poetic than reality. It was very relatable to want to bring your dreamworld to life when reality sucked so bad. Unfortunately, when his Alice of choice didn't live up to this fantasy, he would... do horrible things to her... Afterward, he would leave her for dead and act like it never happened. No one should be forced into a fantasy like this and punished when they don't perform as desired.

Alice was a pretty blonde girl somewhere around her twenties like me. She had the blue dress, white apron, black headband, white stockings, and black dress shoes. For the most part, she was playing along, but her eyes were searching for escape. She was being smart.

 _In her situation, I personally would've played calm until I had an opportunity to attack him and smash his hat. Without the hat, the mind-controlled rabbit thugs wouldn't help him. The only problem was that she likely didn't have my experience with fighting strong men let alone crazy people. Though the Hatter was a small man, he was still strong and crazy enough to overpower and kill a thin, young, and inexperienced thing like her._

 _How do I approach this?_

"Alice, you're not drinking your tea," said Mad Hatter, disappointed.

"Sorry, you just don't have any mint," said the Alice.

"You usually don't take your tea with mint."

"I... like to try new things... Otherwise, why am I here?"

"Oh, how true, how true, let's find mint for you!" He looked over to me. "YOU! Find Alice some mint, please, so that she is appeased."

"Uh, yes, Sir," I said with a guy voice. I walked over to the island, knelt down and held out a pack of mint gum.

Mad Hatter sighed, exasperated. "No, no, mint leaf."

"Ohhh," I said, looking down. "Sorry, Sir."

"Well, I suppose this could work," said Alice, taking a piece of gum.

"Will you need anything else, Sir?" I asked, standing back up.

"That will be all, return to your position," said Mad Hatter.

"Gladly... Jervis." I kicked him into the pool and pulled off my mask.

The other thugs jerked violently and toppled to the ground as the Mad Hatter's hat short-circuited in the water.

"You okay?" I asked, turning to Alice.

She stood up, shocked yet relieved. "Yeah, thanks to you. Oh my God."

The Hatter came back up with a shout without his hat, paddling weakly. "Help! I can't swim!"

I watched him for a moment, considering on letting him drown. _You're not a monster. Help him._ With a groan, I knelt down and grabbed his wrists, pulling him out of the water with all my might. Thankfully, he was a small man. I dropped him on the ground.

"Oh thank you thank you," he said, coughing. "No need to be so rough, I know you're quite tough."

"Good," I said, before booting him in the head. He went out cold.

"Who are you?" Alice asked me.

"Meredith," I said, looking for something to tie the Hatter with.

"Did someone hire you to save me?"

"Nah, I just heard the Hatter's voice and thought I'd check to see if he stole another Alice." I found some chain attached to the console, and a padlock with a key sticking in it. _Hmm..._

"I wish I could say the same if our positions were switched, but these psychos freak me out."

"We all have our strengths." I loosely yet firmly wrapped the chain around his neck and padlocked it. Then, I took the key.

"Are you just going to leave him there?"

"Until the police can pick him up," I said, handing her the key.

She tucked it into her apron pocket.

"Well, follow me, I'll show you the way out."

She followed me back the way I came. "So do you just wander the sewers, looking for kidnapped people?" She asked.

"I just like to explore this city. The history fascinates me and I don't sleep much. You're lucky I was passing through and heard him singing Jabberwocky." I picked up my backpack and pulled out my cell phone to call the police.

"I've never actually read Alice in Wonderland," said the Alice.

"Well, Jabberwocky is actually from "Through the Looking Glass"."

I walked back to where I came and found a ladder to climb. Before I started going up, I called the police. "Yeah, hello, I got Mad Hatter incapacitated in the sewers around Park Row's hub," I said. "He's handcuffed to the handrail and is out cold. I'm taking his Alice to the surface now." I climbed up the ladder.

"My name is Lindsey," said the Alice, following me.

"Her name is Lindsey," I pushed open the manhole with a grunt.

"Who is this?" The cop asked.

"Anonymous tipper. Send some people over, now." I climbed up through the manhole and a few onlookers stared. I offered Lindsey a hand as she reached the top.

"Is Lindsey injured?" The cop asked.

"Hang on." I pulled Lindsey up and handed her the phone.

"This is Lindsey," she said. "... I'm fine. How soon will you get here?..."

I cracked my neck and waved to Lindsey before I started heading towards Amusement Mile.

"Whoa, where are you going?" She asked, stopping me.

"You got a temp phone with an hour's worth of minutes, and I got people waiting for me. You'll be fine, Lindsey," I said.

She walked up to me and hugged me warmly.

Surprised, I hugged back warmly in return.

"Thank you," she said, hanging on. "I won't ever forget."

"You're welcome." I patted her back. "Don't forget the key."

She let me go and I headed off towards the Amusement Mile. It was a nice and relatively quiet walk, if not victorious.

 _Stole a ruby from the Penguin, tricked Catwoman, slipped by a Robin, foiled the Mad Hatter, and saved an Alice. The gang is going to be so damn proud of me._

I couldn't help but grin.

 _Victory is mine._

Quickly, I walked to the apartment complex and walked ten floors up. I reached to open the door and I heard Lucyfer shout, "Fight me, you cowardly, green-haired, bleach twat!" She shouted.

I heard the Joker laughing and hitting someone inside. _Might be Tim._

 _Oh no. He must've heard about the ruby, too... or maybe he just decided to dick with us._

"Lucy, Lucy, patience is a virtue. We can't start until our guest of honor gets here," said the Joker. "Then the party can really begin."

I considered how to approach this and then I pulled out two fake ruby bags. Pulling out the fakes, I put a grenade in the bag instead. Then, I put the other bag around that bag. I held it all, so I could easily pull the pin discretely. I tucked a fake in my pocket and put the other in my backpack.

Then, I opened the door. "Lucy, I'm hoome!" I said casually like I didn't know.

As I saw the scene in the apartment, I froze and let the door close behind me. Tim was bleeding all over his head and lying on the ground, looking barely conscious. The Joker, grinning ear to ear, in his purple and green suit was standing over Tim, holding a gun in his bleached white hand. _Probably hit Tim with that._

Lucyfer was being held down in a kitchen chair by two thugs. Her lip was split open and her face was partially swollen. One of the thugs had her by the hair.

Mark was on his knees with four thugs behind him. His face was pretty swollen and had several splits in his face and a gunshot wound in his shoulder. All of them were looking at me.

"I'll come back later," I said after a pause. I stepped back to go and Joker fired a round at the door, right by my ear. Then I looked back to the Joker.

"No, no, no, you just got home after a long day's work. Come on in, kick off your shoes. Let me take your bag for ya'."

"Get out of here, Meredith!" Lucyfer said to me.

"Shut up, you," said a thug, smacking her in the head.

The Joker strode right up to me and put his arm around me. "Is that a present for me?"

"It's for Lucyfer actually."

"Ooh, can I take a peek?"

I popped the pin. "I guess..." I said, reluctantly. "Will you let my friends go?"

He took the bag and rifled through it.

I stepped back from him, quietly.

"Hmm, you've double-bagged it," said the Joker.

"Some gifts need special treatment," I said, helping Tim up to his feet.

Suddenly, Joker dropped the bag and dove behind the couch a shout.

I dove behind an armchair and the grenade went off.

My ears rang as I smelt burning furniture and screams.

Suddenly, Lucyfer and Joker both shouted "kill 'em!" I slipped into the bathroom for better cover as I heard the sound of people fighting and gunfire. Dropping my backpack, I put a glass ruby in the sink and the real one in the broken radiator.

Then, I got up with my knife and ran out to see what was happening. Joker was about to fire his revolver at Mark, who was bashing a thug's head in. I charged at the Joker.

Joker saw me coming in the corner of his eye, but was too slow to shoot at me. I put the knife into his shoulder, missing his heart and taking him down to the ground.

"A girl after my heart," he said with a chuckle. His hands went to hit my face, but I leaned back and pulled out the knife in his shoulder. Then, he hit my chin, making me turn my head away. He kicked at my back. Then, he grabbed my knife. I struggled for control over it as he pointed at my face. "You give great gifts and fun fights. What else can you do?"

One of the clown thugs aimed a gun at me

I rolled Joker on top of me as a meat shield.

"Woo," said Joker surprised at the move.

The gun went off and the Joker shouted in pain as the thug got him in the back. The knife went flying into a corner.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE SHOOTING!" He yelled, before he started punching me.

"Sorry, Boss!" I heard the thug say.

I held up my arms to guard my face and kneed Joker in the nuts.

"AOUGH!" He groaned. "Right in the rubies!"

We started rolling on the floor, hitting each other. After I nut-shotted him again, he jerked his body up. I jumped on his back and clapped his ears.

"You think this is a bull ride?!" He accidentally knocked down a lamp and slammed me back into a cabinet.

Dazed, I absently punched the back of his head and saw Lucyfer about to smash a turned-on lamp onto a clown thug's head. Mark was shooting at a fallen thug. Tim was stabbing a screaming thug in the eye.

Joker slammed me back into the broken cabinet again. I put an arm around his neck, and used my legs to push off the back of the cabinet. This knocked him over the couch and we both crashed down through the floor that had been ripped open by the grenade.

We landed in the studio apartment below. On the couch, three college guys in hoodies sat, transfixed with terror. I kept swinging at Joker, occasionally hitting him. Suddenly, he pulled out a knife and stuck me in my side.

"AHH!" I hissed, before I socked him in the face.

Dazed, the Joker fell on the floor with a giggle.

I got up and back, grabbing the handle of the blade in my side.

"Whoa wait, don't do that!" One of the guys said. "You'll-"

Wincing, I pulled it out anyway and blood gushed from the wound. I groaned. _My body healed better without a knife sticking into me._

"That looks like it hurts," said Joker, starting to get up.

Then, I threw the knife at Joker, nailing him in his thigh.

"Ooh!" The guys winced.

He shouted in pain, and pointed at his leg, laughing, too.

Tired of this crap, I shouted and charged him, aiming him for the open balcony for an ultimate body slam.

We went flying nine stories down, me shouting, him laughing, before we landed on a car, thoroughly smashing it.

The air was knocked out of us, making us do a near death rattle to express our pain. My ears rang and I was definitely going to feel that all over for a few days.

He giggled as I rolled off him. "Was that good for you?" He squeaked.

"Just shut up," I said with a tight voice.

"Oh my God, is that the Joker?" A few bystanders asked.

"Is he dead?" Another asked.

"Meredith!" Mark shouted from ten floors up.

Weakly, I waved to him, feeling myself bleeding in several spots.

"Oh thank God! We're coming!"

I rolled away from the Joker towards the car hood and he grabbed my arm. "I'm not finished with you yet!" He said, darkly

He didn't look anywhere as hurt as me and I landed on top of him on the car!

I punched him with my other arm and yanked free, toppling to the ground. The sudden movement made me vomit a bit.

He hopped off the car with another knife out as I moved back.

"You're not the Joker," I said. "You're not even human."

"Ooh." He chuckled. "You're sharp, Kiddo. If only you were only as sharp as this knife."

I backed into a fire hydrant.

I rolled out of the way and smacked his head into the fire hydrant.

"Oh..." He said, holding his head and chuckling. Then, he lunged at me again. I held his hands back and struggled against his strength. My second wind came and I shoved him into a power box that electrocuted him. He flailed and screamed, his voice slowly changing into a deeper one while he started melting into a brown goo.

Mark ran over to me and started at the weird puddle that definitely wasn't mud. "Holy shit. What is that?"

Then, I noticed that I had some of the goo splattered all over me, especially on my hands. I flung it off my arms, disgusted. "Clay." _Clayface..._

"Nasty... Did you get the r-rock?" He asked.

"... In the sink," I said, looking at him.

"Nice." Then, his eyes widened, looking at something behind me.

I turned back to see Clayface forming himself together again in his monstrous humanoid form, dripping with clay. "That was all I needed to hear." _He looks slightly thinner than I expected._

The onlookers screamed and ran away.

"What is that?" Mark asked, pulling me back.

"It's Basil Karlo," I said. "Also known as Clayface, a shape-shifting pile of clay."

"You know it," said Clayface with a laugh. Then, I saw a Joker thug jump out the window and splat on the ground, turning into clay. The clay rejoined Clayface with a shiny red gem. He looked about the right size now.

 _The other thugs must've been real._

"GIVE BACK THAT RUBY, YOU LOUSY SHIT PILE!" Lucyfer shouted from the balcony. I could see she had a bazooka aimed at Clayface.

"Or what?" Clayface asked.

Mark pulled me behind another car for safety before Lucyfer fired the bazooka.

The bazooka blast blew Clayface apart, but he formed himself together again. Growling, he picked up the broken car and threw it towards our apartment. It went through the wall and stayed parked up there.

"Holy shit!" said Mark, horrified.

"Fuck," I muttered.

Mark looked to me. "What do we do?"

"Well, we can't stop him unless we have cryogenic weapons. Otherwise explosions and electrocution just stun and piss him off."

"But we can't let him get away with this!" He pointed his gun at Clayface.

I grabbed his gun, struggling to stop him. "It's like shooting a mudslide that can take any shape, you can't win!"

"She's right. You got no chance, Small-Timer," leered Clayface.

"That's what you think." Mark shoved me back.

"Mark!" I shouted.

He aimed and fired at the the ruby in Clayface's hand. It shattered into a million pieces.

Damn those sharp-shooting skills.

"NO!" Clayface roared, looking at the shards.

"That's what you get for messing with the Drifter gang!" Mark shouted.

Clayface glared with with the dark, hollow eyes. He snarled with big, sharp teeth that were drooling with clay.

I chuckled uncomfortably. "And now there's going to be none of the gang left alive, Mark. Run!" We both bolted through an alley, exhausted and bleeding, covered in dried Clayface residue.

I glanced back and saw Clayface was rolling at us in a large, angry clayball. "Goddammit, Mark!"

Mark pulled me down a sharp turn down a different alley. "What would you have me do after what he did to Lucyfer and Tim?!"

"They might be alive, Mark! Tim has the reflexes of a snake!"

He jerked me down another alley and we hopped over a fence that Clayface rolled straight through. "What about water?" Mark asked. "Can he be diluted or something?!"

"I-uh-I can't remember! I just remember that it did when he was in an extremely weakened state."

"How do you know all this shit anyway?!"

"I read police and Arkham files and remembered things that stuck out to me!" I said, somewhat lying. "Can we just focus on not getting murdered by a shape-shifting monster?!" I asked, pulling him out of the way of an attack and into a street-sized alley with neon signs and sleazy places by the docks.

Suddenly, I noticed one of the large signs come falling down and I pushed Mark forward as Clayface pounced. The sign impacted on Clayface and me, electrocuting us harder than expected. When it stopped, I crawled through the wreckage and a puddle of clay that did not smell great.

"Meredith?" Mark called softly, breathing hard.

I groaned as I pushed part of the broken sign out of my way.

Mark groaned with relief, putting his arms on his head. "Holy shit."

When I was almost out, I felt a something grab my ankle.

Horrified, I looked at Mark. "Run!"

Clayface yanked me up into the air, thoroughly pissed off.

"Meredith!" Mark shouted to me.

Suddenly, Clayface was hit a several ice grenades in succession until he was completely frozen like a statue. I was still hanging by a frozen hand that was fifteen feet high.

Batman leapt down on the ground and gazed up at me as I hung from Clayface's frozen arm.

Robin, the boy wonder, dropped behind him. "See, she's okay."

I gazed at them, upside down and in awe of them. The Drifter gang didn't run into Batman too often. We had been keeping ourselves on the low until my ruby heist… _that someone leaked out to everyone in this goddamn town._

Mark was sitting on the ground, absolutely startled.

"Why was he chasing you?" Batman asked me.

"I.. uhh..." I said, too astonished to speak.

"None of your business," piped up Mark, struggling to his feet.

Batman turned around to face him, and walked towards him to grab him by the shirt.

"If it involves a crime, then it is my business."

I kicked at Clayface's frozen hand. "Just tell him the truth, Mark," I said. "We've been through enough tonight." I paused and kicked as hard as I could. The hand cracked and shattered. I fell on the ground with a painful thump that knocked the wind out of me. _All my ribs hurt._

"That look like it really hurt," commented Robin.

"No shit?" I commented with a tight voice. "Ohh, it hurts to talk."

"Then, don't talk."

"Okay."

"She needs a hospital," said Mark, shaking his head.

"Tell me what happened," said Batman let go of him.

I weakly crawled over to the wall and leaned against it.

Mark sighed and spoke. "She stole the ruby from Penguin as an initiation. While she was gone, Clayface showed up disguised as the Joker with several clown thugs, roughed us up. He wanted the ruby. Meredith showed up like she had the ruby in a bag, but she just had a grenade. After it went off, we all started fighting. Then she attacked the Joker by herself while we took the thugs. Eventually Mere and Joker went through the hole in the floor. Then, she took him out through the balcony window and landed on a car. I came down and found her standing by a puddle of brown goo. I asked her where the ruby was and she said in the sink. Clayface suddenly rose up and grabbed the ruby. Lucyfer shot a bazooka at him. He threw a car at our apartment. I shot the ruby. He got pissed and chased us. Then, you two showed up."

Cautiously, I picked my last grenade out of my pocket while the two vigilantes had their backs turned on me. "Looks like my initiation failed horribly," I said, hiding the grenade by my leg.

Batman, Robin, and Mark looked over to me.

"It was all because one of us was shooting off their mouth. Everyone in town knew, Mark," I said, looking over to him. "Catwoman, Clayface, hell-" I gestured to Batman and Robin. "These two probably knew, right?"

"Let's discuss this later, okay," said Mark. "After we get you some medical attention."

"No hospitals," I said flatly.

"If your ribs are hurting, then you need help. You are covered in blood!" He walked over to me.

"I'll be okay, Mark... but I'm not going to a hospital. I'm not going to let them take me back to that horrible place." My chest started hurting as the memories came back.

Mark paused as he saw the grenade in my hand that Batman and Robin could not see.

I closed my eyes and pulled the pin out of the grenade. Then, I rolled it over to the frozen Clayface.

Mark picked me up and ran down the alleyway past Clayface before the grenade exploded

"Batman!" Clayface snarled, reforming himself.

I threw down my last smoke bomb to cover us. Mark set me down and opened a manhole. I got up and climbed down. He followed and closed the manhole behind us.

Mark and I hobbled towards the docks closer to the Industrial District, supporting each other. We found an outboard motorboat with oars and quietly rowed out into the misty bay. The sound of the motor might attract attention of the dynamic duo that was looking for us.

After we were clear, Mark laughed. "You tried to rob the Penguin, got in a fight with a clay monster Joker, fell nine stories onto a car, ran several blocks away from clay monster, got hit and electrocuted by a neon sign-I mean, when do you stop to pass out from the blood loss and pain?"

"When I'm dead," I said with a chuckle.

"Is there something else about you I should know?" He asked as he got ready to start the motor.

I sighed. "Let's talk later when we're out of this fog. I don't want you to steer us into a barge or something."

We cautiously sped along through foggy waters to reach the safehouse cabin across the bay.

Mark pulled up to a dock and looked at me, very fatigued. "Meredith, I want you to know that you are in as far as I'm concerned. If Lucyfer and Tim don't show up, then we'll just have to stick together."

"Thanks, Mark," I said, surprised.

He hopped out and tied the boat to the dock. I stumbled out and he helped me balance. "Are you sure you don't need a hospital?"

"I need rest, ice, and a shower. I'll be fine."

He walked me up the stairs to the cabin. It was burned halfway to hell on the surface, but we walked over to the cellar doors, unlocked it, and headed down the stairs.

The cellar was even bigger than the studio apartment in the amusement mile. A bar and makeshift kitchen on our right. TV and couches were on the right. Armory on the far left corner. Bathroom and makeshift hospital on the far right corner.

We walked to the hospital area and suddenly we heard party horns at the bar and spun, terrified. Lucyfer and Tim were at the bar with party horns in their mouths and bandages here and there. Lucyfer sat on the bar and dumped a bunch of cash bundles on us from a duffle. Tim held up Lucyfer's laptop where Ollie was also blowing a party horn via webcam.

I grinned, so happy to see they were okay.

"Holy shit," said Mark, putting his arms on his head. "You're alive!"

"And so are you!" Lucyfer exclaimed. "Congratulations, you crazy bitch!" She pointed at me.

"But... the ruby..." said Mark, looking at me.

"I put a fake in the sink," I said. "Realized he was Clayface when he didn't look like he was taking damage. I decided to lie in case he had clones upstairs. I put the real one in the broken radiator."

"And it popped out when the car decided to park in the apartment," Lucyfer said, laughing.

"Clayface thought I shot the real ruby to pieces with my gun!" Mark said. "I told Batman I shot it!"

"I know," I said smirking.

He punched my arm and laughed. "You crazy, smooth-talking bitch!" He lifted me up from the ground, hugging me.

I laughed out of amusement and pain.

Tim set the laptop on the bar and hugged us both. I had never been hugged by Tim before. It was nice.

"You both hug like bear," said Tim with a very worn voice that was a little higher than Mark's. I couldn't quite pick up what his accent was.

"Tim... you talk?" Mark asked, shocked.

"Yeah-I just don't like to talk."

"Unless he's drinking and happy as a clam," said Lucyfer, smirking as she reached over and rubbed Tim's bald head.

"Yeah..." He said with a goofy grin. "I knew you could do it, Meredith... and thank you, Mark."

"You're welcome, Tim-maybe you could tell me your real name?" Mark asked.

"But I like being called Tim," he said, smile fading a bit. "I hate my old names."

"Where are you from?"

Tim frowned, puzzling over this himself. "I... honestly don't know... But let's get you two fixed up. We got the rest of the night to talk."

Tim, Mark, and I walked over to the medical area.

"I'm going to hop into the shower to get all this gore off," I said, limping along and picking up a first aid kit.

"Yeah you enjoy your victory shower!" said Mark.

We all laughed.

I washed the blood, dirt, and sweat away and noted that the deeper wounds like the one by my liver had closed up into scars, but I was covered in purple and yellow bruises from where Clayface/Joker had hit me in our scuffle. The pain was slowly but surely subsiding while the wounds healed themselves.

 _The healing is becoming faster with each horrible injury I endure… ever since that first time I nearly died… For a while this seemed like a horrible curse, but lately it has been a saving grace._

I sighed, looking at the blue rose on my shoulder. _I just wish some ink would remain where you wanted it to... Permanent body art are also considered to be wounds._

I pulled on a spare t-shirt, jacket, bra, boxers, cargo pants, socks, and combat boots from my cubby. We all kept spare clothes, razors, and whatnot in one of the four cubbies on the wall. I fluffed my black, pixie hair in the mirror and limped out, fully dressed.

"Fresh as a daisy," commented Mark. Tim removed the bullet from Mark's shoulder.

"Yes," I said, putting my fist in the air before setting the first aid kit back down.

"Any bad wounds?" Tim asked.

"Nothing I can't handle."

"Didn't you fall ten stories onto a car?" Lucyfer asked.

"You _were_ complaining about your ribs," said Mark, concerned.

"Only so you'd walk over to me, Mark. Also for the record, it was nine floors and Clayface cushioned the fall for the most part," I said with a shrug. "I definitely have a minor concussion though."

"Don't fall asleep," said Mark, tossing me a pill bottle with his good arm. "Take two if you feel like your head is going to explode."

I popped two and tossed the pills back to Mark.

Tim caught them before Mark could and set them down.

"Those reflexes, though," I commented.

"All that money on the floor is yours by the way," said Lucyfer. "$9,800,000... Converted it from the seven million euros.

"Damn," I said, looking at the bundles on the floor. I knelt to the floor and started putting the money back in the backpack.

Lucyfer hopped off the bar and helped me pack it back in. After we finished, she patted my back. "Welcome to the family."

"Thank you," I said, touched.

"Okay, I want to hear the full story behind this," said Ollie.

"Well, I'm going to lie down at the couch if you guys want to join me." I picked up that money and walked over to the couches

"Sure, vodka and lemon-lime, right?" Lucyfer asked.

"You shouldn't add alcohol with those pain pills," said Mark.

"What are you? A doctor? Mr. Security Guard?" Lucyfer asked. "Dr. Security Guard," she added.

"Before that I was an EMT, remember?"

"Eh," she said with a shrug. "It's up you, Meredith."

"I'll take a drink," I said, setting the bag next to the arm.

"That's my girl." She mixed up a drink for me, brought it to me, set the laptop on a stand so it could see me and anyone else around the room. Lucyfer sat down next to the laptop.

I set the bag up to support my back while my head rested on the arm. Then, I tested it out by lying down. It was hard on my back.

"Comfy?" Ollie asked.

"Not really," I said, getting back up. Then, I slid the bag under the coffee table and sat down on the large recliner, leaning my head back. I picked up my cold drink, drank a little, and set it in my lap. "Better."

"Okay, tell me a story."

I told them all what happened from my perspective. The thief I discovered and foiled, stealing the ruby without being spotted, running into Catwoman in the ventilation ducts and tricking her, my run-in with Mad Hatter, hearing the Joker before I walked into the apartment, the grenade in two bags, hiding the ruby in the bathroom, my fight with Joker (omitting the part where he stabbed me in the abdomen), the part where I tackled him over the balcony rail-

"You're lucky you weren't killed," said Mark, walking over to us with Tim. "Why would you do that intentionally?"

"I was tired and pissed off," I said. "I also have a lucky streak of surviving shit like that."

"That's awesome," said Lucyfer.

"So then what happened?" Ollie asked as Mark and Tim sat down.

I continued, talking about how I realized Joker was Clayface and those other thugs might be him, too. So I lied about the real ruby and Clayface revealed himself, stealing the fake ruby from the sink. Lucyfer fired that bazooka at Clayface and Clayface threw a car back at her.

"That's when Tim saved my ass and pulled me into the bathroom where we found the real ruby," said Lucyfer.

"And I shot the fake ruby in his hand," said Mark.

"And he tried to kill us both," I added. "If it weren't for Batman and Robin dropping that neon sign and those ice grenades, our chances weren't looking so good."

"Robin almost killed you with that neon sign."

"True… but they demanded the truth. Mark told them what he thought was the truth. Then, I tossed a grenade at Clayface, releasing him, and hoping he'd get in a fight Batman. And he did. Smoke bomb away and ship ahoy! It's off to the safe house we go."

Lucyfer snickered. "Nice."

"But seriously, Clayface might be as scary as Killer Croc," said Mark.

"The benefit of Killer Croc is that he looks like Killer Croc," said Ollie. "Clayface can look and talk like anybody and turn into any blade or blunt weapon."

"Including Joker and a clown thug," said Lucyfer, shaking her head. "Goddamn."

"Interesting choice, too," I commented. "Why'd he walk into the apartment as the Joker?... That just seems like a good way to piss Lucyfer and the rest of us off... especially when he was out for the ruby."

"Eh, who knows what that shit pile thinks?" said Lucyfer. "Maybe he just wanted to dick around with us."

"There was also something troubling," said Mark. "Just about everyone knew Meredith was going to attempt a heist. Catwoman, Clayface, Batman, and Robin…"

"Catwoman said it was a rumor," I added. "And only the few of us knew. Did anyone say something?"

Tim frowned and looked over to Lucyfer.

"What?" Lucyfer asked, looking to Tim.

Ollie sighed. "Lucyfer have you been bar-hopping again?"

"It's a social thing, Ollie. I might've slipped something by accident, but you know it just added an extra challenge. What matters is we got the ruby and the money and one of the best thieves in town against all odds." She pointed to me. "You rocked us all, Meredith." Lucyfer clapped and the others joined in, too.

Smiling and blushing, I raised a glass to them and took a drink.

They stopped clapping and took drinks, too. Mark was definitely drinking water.

Ollie was frowning deeply to herself after Lucy's dodgy answer.

"Speech, Mark," said Lucyfer, quickly

"Speech? Me?" Mark asked, holding his glass to his head.

 _He seemed a little out of it to notice that Lucyfer's interesting answer, but I wasn't going to pressure her myself. I'm too tired for that now._

"All right. I'll just tell you a story... of Meredith," said Mark. "Once upon a time..."

We chuckled.

"I was walking back to Lucyfer's-our apartment-that was in Park Row in the dead of winter... when I heard the sounds of some random thugs fighting down the alley behind a fence. And I heard the cry of Meredith as she knocked down a thug with one punch. He was out cold. It was five-now four grown men against a homeless-looking college-age girl and she was making dents. She didn't seem to have a technique other than raw survival. A guy grabbed her from behind and she bit him so hard he screamed bloody murder. Another guy knocked her down and the others started stomping and kicking her. Unable to stand by, I hopped the fence, pulled out my gun, and told them to stop. While they were looking at me, she quickly pushed by them to get away. They chased after her. I followed, telling them to leave her alone, but they weren't listening."

My smile faded as I remembered. Those guys were trying to convince me to go with them somewhere. They said I'd have food and somewhere to sleep, but I knew something was off. When I resisted, it became a fight.

"I stopped and fired four shots and got them in the legs."

"You do love those knee shots," Lucyfer said.

"And I ran past them and followed the footprints in the snow," continued Mark. "Actual footprints, no shoes!-And I followed them back to the street sidewalk were the snow was cleared away for the most part. I turned around back to the alley when I heard the trash can rattle. She lied on the ground, looking real hurt. I asked her if there was someone I could call. She said, 'no-please don't call the police.'

"'What did you do?' I asked.

"'They attacked me for no reason-those men. Please, leave me alone.'

"'What's your name?'

"'Meredith,' she says, before passing out.

"Wanting to know more and help her out, I picked Meredith up and took her to the apartment, gave her a place to live, get clean, eat, sleep."

"Just like me, except you had to peel me off the pavement," said Tim with a chuckle.

"And Meredith talked more," said Lucyfer.

"She was very interested in helping us out when we gave her the opportunity. I didn't pressure her into telling us who she was, and bit by bit, she started us on her own."

"And I pieced together that she is in fact, Meredith Storm," said Ollie. "Small-time thief with no real identity, no past, no family, and suicidal tendencies."

Mark frowned at Ollie. "Ollie," he said, scoldingly.

"What? At least, she can leave her house without having a fucking panic attack. Anyway, Meredith spent a few months at Blackgate before being transferred to Arkham because of suicide attempts. She spent almost a year there and escaped after killing Dr. Donald Giovanni who often drugged and raped his patients."

"You make it sound so easy," I commented before I took a big drink.

"Hey, don't be sullen! You murdered that bastard and regained the honor of all those victimized by him. I still need to get my Scarecrow."

"Sometimes the assholes win," said Lucyfer. "But when they do, it gives you all the rage you need to hit 'em where it hurts." Her mind was off somewhere else thinking about that.

"Hmm," I said. True...

"You showed us all what you could do," said Mark. "You gave some surprisingly intelligent insights. You are just a kind friend and tough player any way you spin it. That doctor does not define you at all... You are not a victim, and I don't care what your real past is. You are awesome the way you are and I am glad to welcome you to the Drifter gang. I think it's time you learned a little more about us, too."

"I'll refill your drink," said Tim.

"Oh, thanks." I handed him my glass and he walked off.

"Well, if you didn't hear I was a security guard at Metropolis," said Mark. "Oh, and my name's Mark F. Beats. Before security, I was an EMT and volunteer firefighter. My best talent was shooting. Good eye, steady hands, and my dad would always take me hunting. I was his good luck charm... I lost him and my mom in a tragic car accident when I was about your age... Drunk driver... but I had plans and was able to keep moving forward, picked up boxing, and eventually moved into a really great paying security job for ten years... and then they laid me off. I had a lot of bills to pay and didn't know what I was going to do, so I wandered around and eventually found Lucy and Ollie. After some convincing, Lucy brought me along on my first heist as a getaway driver and I eventually moved up into actual heists. We traveled around the country, picked up Tim in Las Vegas, did some more traveling, and headed out Lucy and Ollie's hometown Gotham City where we found you. Another year and we'll be out on the road again."

"Yep," said Lucyfer. "Ollie, you next."

I looked down and realized my drink was in front of me. Tim was so silent. Then, I picked up my drink and drank it.

"Okay, I'm Ollie Webber," said Ollie. I'm actually from Bludhaven originally. I'm asexual.-That means I don't fuck, so leave me alone. Had a good dad and a deadbeat mom. Dad's dead because a Joker thug decided to shoot random civilians with bazookas. Barely recognized the corpse. I'm too smart for my own good and have been hacking since I was a kid. At first it was just dicking around on the internet, but then I needed to support myself. I got sent to Blackgate for stealing thousands of dollars. I made contact with Lucyfer and we planned to partner up for future heists. A year later, I was sent to Arkham because I had a fit when I was evicted from my apartment forcefully. It was when I could leave my house for five hours a week and be okay. Dr. Crane fucked that up for me in the asylum like I told you... then I spent time with Dr. Whistler and got released. Bought me a new identity and a new house. Go, Lucyfer."

"Okay, okay," said Lucyfer. "I'm Lucyfer, but my real name is Angel Star Smith. Yes, my parents are fucking hippies. If you've ever seen me hunch down during a phone call, it's because my dad calls me Angel Cake. If one of you try to call me Angel, I will maim you. Call me Angel Cake and you're fucking dead."

"Got it," I said, believing her.

"I've never liked doing what I was told," Lucyfer continued. "My parents let me do what I want, but give me suggestions every once and a while. I was in out of trouble, vandalism, stealing... That changed when I joined a band. You know my R.I.P. DREAMS merch?" She pointed to her t-shirt. "I was in R.I.P. DREAMS as the bass guitar. We were getting a lot of fans and toured the world. I felt pretty damn good about myself for the first time in a long time. Then, we decided to do a charity concert for troubled youth at Gotham City." She sighed. "First three songs was fine, and then the Joker showed up with his thugs. I hadn't heard about him since my band left the city to tour the country and then the world. We were too busy living it up to worry about Gotham politics. But we had a song called "I Hate Clowns", because Jared always had this thing about clowns... I think entire Joker gang showed up because of it... Joker just shot up our guards, stole the mic, and said, 'so I hear you hate clowns... well, we just came to say that we hate you, too. Rest in pieces!' He laughed and started shooting us. It became a moshing battle of metalheads vs. clowns. All of them were beating the hell out of each other and shooting each other. Some were screaming and trying to get out. I mean metalheads don't go down easy... but with all the panic over... 200 people died, and even more were injured on both sides, including cops and security that tried to stop it. Hell, I think the Batman was trying with all his sidekicks. I was the last band member alive, but the record contract-the dream of R.I.P. DREAMS-was dead without my friends... I also clearly murdered several clowns in the crowd... almost had the Joker, too... I lost count of what I did and so did the DA... Most people don't remember who killed who, but I served time for manslaughter and met Ollie. Then, you know the rest." She sighed looked over to Tim who was looking at his drink. "Tim?"

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "I was sold into slavery and was eventually sent to become an assassin when I was ten. They crammed so many languages and culture in my head-I don't know what is mine anymore. I just knew that I was unwanted and was supposed to do as I was told by my master of the time. You adopted whatever identity they gave you for cover and killed without question."

"Are you undercover right now?" Ollie asked.

"No... I was left for dead."

"Why?"

"They said it was because I was sub-par... but I think I know real reason." He pulled out his notepad from his pocket and flipped it open to a spot in the middle. He showed it to Mark and me. I realized it was a drawing of Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head, standing up straight with a cold and calm expression... without his clothes.

I looked away and chuckled uncomfortably. _If I remember correctly, there was a strong rule against documenting the League of Assassins. Documenting what the leader looked like head to toe could definitely be punishable by death, no matter how flattering._

"Wow, that is uh... very detailed," said Mark.

"From memory," said Tim. "The burned my originals."

"Wait, what is it?" Ollie asked from the laptop

"He drew a picture of him naked," said Lucyfer.

"And his daughter and some lieutenants." He showed Lucyfer, Mark, and me. I recognized the daughter as Talia al Ghul.

"Oh wow, she is gorgeous."

"Dangerous," said Tim.

"Show me?" Ollie asked.

"I can't show to camera, Ollie," Tim insisted to Ollie without facing her. "They might see."

"Well by that logic, can't they see this right now?"

"They can't see my face."

"Oookay, how good is it, Lucyfer?"

Lucyfer looked over to the laptop and blew her horn with two thumbs up.

"Wow."

"So you actually saw them naked?" I asked.

"I've seen many naked people," said Tim. "But I am confident enough to know what to draw... except for the finer details like freckles, scars, tattoos. I add those over time when I'm with them. I draw people that stick out in my mind."

"Have you drawn pictures of us?" Mark asked.

Tim smiled softly. "Well... yes. You're my friends. It's not meant to be naughty or sexual... just naked. I don't like drawing clothes and it's just the way you were made..." His smile faded. "I was castrated at a young age."

We glanced at each other... uncomfortable.

Ollie piped up. "So you don't have a-?"

"-Well, let's take a look at the notebook," said Mark, interrupting Ollie

I put my hands up. "I'm... not comfortable with looking at a drawing of me."

"Why not?" Lucyfer asked, confused.

"It's just uncomfortable for me to look at myself."

"Why? You're a pretty girl."

"She's insecure, Lucyfer," said Ollie.

"Show me, Tim..."

Tim showed her.

"Damn... did you do this today?"

"Yes," said Tim.

"He drew you with the ruby, Meredith, and you look gorgeous."

I chuckled and drank my drink.

"No, really, I just about want to eat the paper."

My drink almost went up my nose as I busted out laughing.

"You think I'm kidding," said Lucyfer, smirking. "But I'll let it go. Let's see Mark, Tim."

Tim flipped and showed them.

"Ooh, sharp-shooter."

Mark snorted. "Damn, is that how buff I look? This is very flattering, Tim."

"You got one of me?" Ollie asked.

Tim showed Ollie.

"Hmm, not bad," commented Ollie.

"So do you have a fear of the naked?" Lucyfer asked me.

I blushed. "Well, if you see them naked once, all you're ever going to think of is the naked parts- bouncing around," I said, trying to keep a level expression. "It just somewhat embarrasses me to think of my friends' part-to sexualize them."

"Nothing to be ashamed of. Like Tim says, perfectly natural... Hell, let's play strip. poker sometime in the future at Ollie's house...

"I prefer laptop mode," said Ollie. "But okay."

Lucyfer continued flipping through the notepad. "Tim, you are so talented! Dude... Oh..."

I looked back over and saw Tim take back his notepad quickly.

Lucyfer's smile had faded.

"What's wrong, Lucyfer?" Ollie asked.

Tim held up his notepad to the computer.

"Oh..."

"What?" Mark asked.

"It's a nude drawing of the clown and his crazy girlfriend," said Ollie.

"They are interesting subjects, I suppose," said Lucyfer, bitterly. "...in a volcano of everlasting death…"

"Sorry, Lucyfer," said Tim, pocketing his notepad.

"It's fine. It's just I fucking hate clowns, especially those two. Mere, why don't you tell us about you?" Lucyfer asked.

"Okay," I said. "...Don't know if you'll believe me with no identity and everything, but I'll tell you... I... had okay parents, divorced. It was all whatever. Didn't know what to do with my life. Just kept looking for books and movies to lose myself in. I felt like I wasn't good enough for anything... that I was nothing but a mediocre burden... so I left home in the middle of winter, just drove and drove while drinking until I crashed into a river. I managed to wash ashore and wandered through the woods, shivering really bad. Honestly, I can't remember how long I walked. I just walked until I couldn't and stopped by a tree to sit down and rest against it. Ended up taking off my jacket and shoes and stuff because I started feeling super hot. Passed out. Then, I woke up in Gotham General in the psych ward because my arms were cut up. Apparently, they found me in a pool of blood-soaked snow... I guess I did that to myself to finish myself off quicker... but I lived. I managed to pass the examination at the hospital, but they couldn't properly identify me. My IDs and bank card were suddenly invalid like I never existed-my whole life never existed, but I remember so well. I got out of that place and tried to figure out what happened to no avail. The best I could figure was that I died and went to a hell where I wasn't supposed to exist... like it was be-careful-what-you-wish-for situation... I struggled to survive on the streets and eventually got thrown into Blackgate for theft. Attempted suicide again and they transferred me to Arkham. I had one good doctor and then a really bad one that drugged and raped his patients as you heard.

I started to shake as I continued. "I was warned about him by the others, so I stopped taking my medication. I would just hide it under my tongue and trade it to someone else. When he realized I wasn't feeling the affects, he asked me to take it. He insisted it would help me feel better. I tongued it again in front of him and pretended to lose consciousness. When he tried making a move, I attacked him. I beat the living hell out of him. I had never been so angry and scared. While he was lying on the ground, bleeding, I told him to leave Arkham and never come back… but he stayed and reported me. I was put in isolation on forced drugs and restraints…" I shook my head, trying to hold my emotions in. "He showed up… and raped me… brutally… beating me to near death… I survived and bided my time, being a model patient… Then, I gathered a posse of insane girls with a grudge and we made him he was never born and butchered him… He was my first murder… and I escaped, returning to the streets... where you eventually found me, Mark... Those guys you remember-they were trying to convince me to go somewhere with them, but I said no and they didn't like that... You guys are all the friends I have in the world and you make me want to do better... like I genuinely matter in the scheme of things... I'm still learning yet, but one thing I'm good at is surviving the shit I go through and fighting back. Knowing that I'm helping you guys really pulls me through."

I looked up and saw Mark was tearing up in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to make you sad," I said. "I'm sorry."

He wiped his eyes. "It's just... We're all so sad."

"Sad together," said Tim, patting Mark's shoulder.

"Fuck sad," said Lucyfer, bitterly as she stood up on the couch and sat on the top. "I don't know about you, but I'm more about the let's-fuck-shit-up together. That's why we're all here, right?"

"Yep," said Ollie.

The rest of us nodded.

"Why don't I introduce you to a little R.I.P. DREAMS metal?" She hopped over to a stereo and popped in a CD. Then, she set up her bass guitar, connecting it to a speaker. She started playing and singing along with the CD, starting with the song "I Hate Clowns!"

 _Circus in town?_

 _Honk-honk! Bang-bang!_

 _Beep-beep! Stab-stab!_

 _Honk-honk! Bang-bang!_

 _Beep-beep! Stab-stab_

 _Blood smile, Bleach skin, Squeak nose,_

 _The sight of clowns makes me growl_

 _For I know the truth behind colors so bright,_

 _The naive think monsters hide in the dark, (Boo!)_

 _But I know all the best live in plain sight. (Boom!)_

 _Fire at will, I water roses with some fresh Bozo._

 _You're gonna scream... WHY? WHY? WHY?_

 _R.I.P. DREAMS will shout... DIE! DIE! DIE!_

 _You're gonna scream... WHY? WHY? WHY?_

 _YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?!_

 _I... HATE... CLOWNS!_

 _Ridi, Pagliaccio. Laugh, Clown? Haha!_

 _Run, Clown, and entice the happy hunting._

 _I'm out to show you the reddest of red,_

 _Use it as my war paint as I kill the rest. (Blood!)_

 _I laugh when another clown is dead! (Crud!)_

 _For my next trick, I'll make a balloon animal._

 _You're gonna scream... WHY? WHY? WHY?_

 _R.I.P. DREAMS will shout... DIE! DIE! DIE!_

 _You're gonna scream... WHY? WHY? WHY?_

 _YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?!_

 _I... HATE...CLOWNS!_

 _White-faces, bums, mimes, and thugs!_

 _All the same face-painted cult from hell!_

 _Demons hunger for attention and innocence:_

 _Children's wide-eyes and tender flesh._

 _For you, we got a chef's special on flamb_ _é_ _..._

 _TASTE THE BURNING RUBBER ON YOUR FACE_

 _AS WE ROADKILL THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR RACE!_

 _Honk-honk! Bang-Bang!_

 _Beep-beep! Stab-stab!_

 _Honk-honk! Bang-Bang!_

 _Beep-beep! Stab-stab!_

 _You're gonna scream... WHY? WHY? WHY?_

 _R.I.P. Dreams will shout.. DIE! DIE! DIE?_

 _You're going to scream... WHY? WHY? WHY?_

 _YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?!_

 _I... HATE...CLOWNS!_

 _All clowns scream why?_

 _R.I.P. DREAMS shout die!_

 _YOU KNOW WHY!_

 _YOU KNOW WHY!_

 _I HATE CLOWNS!_

 _I HATE CLOWNS!_

 _I... HATE... CLOWNS!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Key of Gotham City

**Chapter Two: The Key to Gotham City**

 _I was running through the sewers, unsure of what I was exactly running from._

 _"Beware the Jabberwock, my dear," said the Mad Hatter with his high voice as he flew by my ear. "The jaws that bite, the claws that snatch!" He was a little fairy-man riding in a teacup._

 _The fuck is going on in this dream?_

 _Suddenly, Killer Croc popped out of the ground twenty feet in front of me. The twelve-foot-tall lizard man gnashed his sharp teeth, and glared with his bright yellow eyes. "Tick Tock! Tick Tock! Time to feed the Jabberwock!" Killer Croc hissed in that guttural voice._

 _Nope. Heart beating out of my chest, I turned around and ran away. Killer Croc chased me through the sewers. I breathed heavily as I got more and more tired of running through the winding sewers that never seemed to end. That beast wasn't losing any speed. He was getting closer and closer._

" _I threw a rock at him!" said a girl's voice with a giggle._

 _What? Who-what?_

 _Spotting a rock, I picked it up and turned around to throw it at him. He suddenly fell into the waste water, clutching his neck._

 _I stared at where he fell, shocked that it even worked._

 _Then, I felt hot, nasty breath on my neck before a man grabbed me from behind. He put a hand over my mouth and I couldn't move. I couldn't fight back. My strength seemed non-existent against his._

 _The man that held me licked my ear and whispered, "And through and through, the vorpal blade went snicker snack!" It was Dr. Giovanni's voice and my heart palpitated in panic._

 _Oh God! Please wake up!_

 _"There issss no waking up," said Dr. Giovanni, his voice becoming more snake-like. His arms became large coils that were wrapped around me._

 _No. No. No!_

 _"Only sssssnicker ssssnack." He licked my neck with a forked tongue._

 _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

I jerked awake with a groggy start. My heart was palpitating, and my skin felt burning hot. Everyone else was still fast asleep on their own couches. I paced my breath as I studied my friends.

Mark was snoring while lying on his stomach. His blue hair was flopped over his face. He was almost as loud as Lucyfer, who was lying on her back with her legs propped up on a couch arm. Her snores reminded me of a growling bear. Tim's breathing was relatively quiet as he slept on the couch by me. Lucyfer's laptop was on sleep mode.

 _I can't sleep after that nightmare. Just no. I gotta get up!_

Quietly, I got up and used the bathroom. After I washed my face, I strode over to the kitchen to grab a water bottle and a protein bar. I headed up the stairs and opened the doors as soundlessly as possible.

Outside, it was a cloudy day break. The air was cool and calm the way I liked it. After I closed the doors behind me, I headed down a trail through the woods covered in morning dew. My mind was on auto-pilot, dazed and searching for clarity.

 _Goddamn, that was awful… The words were silly, but the sensations that came with them were absolutely horrifying. Those fears of being hunted by Killer Croc, snatched by Dr. Giovanni, a snake… mixed with Mad Hatter's Jabberwocky ramblings from last night…_

I remembered my time in restrained isolation… _the white room… that harsh bleach smell… can't move..._

" _I would've been gentle if you just took your medicine like a good girl," said Dr. Giovanni, running a hand down my leg._

 _Nonononono! I don't want to remember this! I don't want to-_

" _You thought you could scare me away."_

I stopped walking, holding my sides as I remembered screaming in terror, anger, and pain.

 _He put a hand on my mouth. "Scream all you want. No one's coming to help you. No one cares at the end of the day."_

I closed my eyes, trying to not remember.

 _PLEASE! PLEASE! MAKE IT STOP!... Let me die! I want to die! I never wanted to live Make it disappear! PLEASE!_

" _I love the way you cry for me."_

Trembling, I covered my ears and felt my eyes watering. Every fiber of my being started to hurt. I felt my heart twisting in my chest. Agonized, I dug my short nails into the skin around my ears.

 _Breathe. Just breathe._ I focused on my breathing. _Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He's gone. He's gone. It's just memories._

"He's dead," I whispered to myself. "He's dead!… When you killed him… he begged you for mercy." A few tears rolled down my cheeks.

" _Oh God, I'm so sorry. Don't be like me. Don't do this. I'll leave. I'll do whatever you want. I promise. Let me live!"_

"He cried." Opening my eyes and gazing out, I slowly lowered my hands from my ears and hugged my sides.

 _Tears ran down his pathetic face. "Ohhh God, please! Stop! Don't!"_

"He bled."

 _Blood gushed from the stumps that once connected to arms, legs, and genitals. I was drenched in his blood from the way it sprayed all over me and the others._

Gazing down at the ground, I felt the chilling sensation of adrenaline running through me like it did that night. My body trembled with a triumphant wrath.

 _I used Amadeus Arkham's old record player to play "A cenar teco m'invitasti" from Mozart's Don Giovanni in the background… It was too tempting and poetic to resist._

 _Don Giovanni sings:_

" _Da qual tremore insolito (Terrors unknown are freezing me.)_

 _Sento assalir gli spiriti (Demons of doom are seizing me.)_

 _Dond'escono quei vortici (Is hell let loose to torture me?)_

 _Di forco pien d'orror?" (Or does it mock my sight?)_

 _Then, the Chorus..._

" _Tutto a tue colpe e poco! (Torments eternal wait thee!)_

 _Vieni, c'e un mal peggior!" (Burning in endless night!)_

"And he screamed..." I murmured. Absentmindedly, I wiped the tears from my face.

 _Dr. Giovanni screamed as we moved to saw his head off._

The thought made me smile. "Questo e il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita e sempre ugual."

" _Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life."_

I sighed and strolled onward down the trail, feeling better, and yet I knew that some scars would never heal.

 _You could bathe in the blood of all your enemies to soothe the symptoms. With that, there sometimes comes a satisfying period of peace, but nothing can erase the scars. You might forget they are there in better times to come, but memory can only be so kind._

 _I destroyed Dr. Giovanni… and now I was an honorary member of the Drifter Gang… After the last heist, we'll all leave Gotham City and travel the world. We'll be safe from all the pure insanity that thrives here... Well, most of us I guess. I mean Ollie can't leave, but she's in the suburbs. She doesn't live smack dab in the city with all the danger it has to offer. The sooner we got away from here the better. I'm ready to find happier memories somewhere else. I'm ready to learn things I never knew. I... feel so optimistic I could probably make a sparkling unicorn gag._

 _But I can't get too optimistic... not until the job is done. So many people do that, but I know better. That's just a sure way to set yourself up for failure..._

 _Is it so wrong to hope after the bleak times I've spent alone? The horrors I've faced?_

 _Yes. Especially in Gotham and the way your life naturally flows. Whenever you get your hopes too high, it all falls apart. That naturally happens in Gotham City. If you ever think things are starting to look up, that's when things fall to shit hardcore. Every win has a price._

I groaned to myself and bit into my protein bar. _This inner argument is getting nowhere. Let's just say whatever happens will happen and we will fight for the best._

The trail ended at a sudden drop off, washed away by the rain. It was ten feet wide. The drop was a steep slide that no doubt led to the bay.

 _Eh, I don't want to go swimming this morning. I'm still hurting a bit after that fight with Clayface._

Taking a drink of water, I turned around and started heading back.

 _Oh yeah. Why was Clayface out for us last night? He could've easily stolen the Dragon's Eye at the museum, disguising himself as a guard or even the Penguin. And why was he disguised as the Joker, dragging real clown thugs with him? It's so specific, it's as though... someone hired him to do it. But who would hire him? And why?_

 _Well, it couldn't be the Joker. The Joker would've gone himself. I really doubt he's scared of us or sent Clayface because he couldn't be bothered to go in person. The Joker loves to mess with people, but he likes to do it in person to see their reaction... especially with a former victim like Lucyfer who lost so much because of him._

 _Who would know or want to intimidate Lucyfer with the Joker's image and steal the ruby? Everyone in town probably knows about the R.I.P. DREAMS Massacre... It has to be someone that has money, is manipulative, and might not want to handle Lucyfer in person... Black Mask? Penguin? Two-Face, if he flipped for it?_

 _I don't know. I'll just ask Clayface the next time I see him._

I chuckled to myself. _Like he'd tell me anything._

 _Man, I really hope Lucyfer doesn't spoil the next heist. I mean, challenges are fun and everything, but the gang was almost wiped out by Clayface's shenanigans... all because she was bar hopping or something… How Ollie mentioned it and Lucyfer just brushing it off kinda bothered me. It should probably be discussed for the future. I doubt anyone wants any repeats of that mess last night._

I returned to the burnt cabin and sat down on the porch, looking at Gotham Bay and Gotham City in the distance. The sun was starting to come up behind me. It was a decent view of the city from these woods.

"Pretty," said Tim, suddenly.

"Shit!" I said, startled. I saw him standing nearby with bags under his green eyes. He was looking at the city view, too, and wasn't wearing shoes. There was a five o'clock shadow around his silver-brown goatee.

"Sorry," Tim apologized, scratching his bald head wrapped in gauze. "I was wondering where you went. I did not hear you leave."

"It's okay," I said. "I didn't hear your footsteps either."

"I almost did not say anything. You looked so serene and deep in thought."

I shrugged. "Are the others up?"

Tim shook his head.

"Okay." I continued eating my protein bar and drank some water.

He sat down next to me.

"Oh! How's your head?" I asked, recalling that his head was wrapped from Clayface/Joker hitting him in the head with a handgun.

"Still tender," said Tim. "Thanks for moving me from explosion."

"No problem, Pal."

There was a quiet pause as we zoned out into our own little worlds.

Tim pulled out his little notepad to draw in it. Then,he paused as he put a pencil to the paper. Tim looked over to me, frowning. "Meredith?"

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at him.

"Last night, when I showed you all my drawings... I might be wrong, but you seemed to know this one." He flipped it to the one of Ra's al Ghul, but graciously covered the naked parts with his fingers for me. "My last master."

"Oh?" _Shit. Should I lie quickly or just tell the truth?... Some semblance of truth?... Definitely not the whole truth. No one can be trusted with the whole truth. It's far too dangerous to share. I trust these guys, but it's better if they know nothing. If they know nothing, they don't have to lie to protect me._

He didn't like my hesitance. "Did you know him?" Tim pressed, his brow quickly furrowing with concern.

I stared at the drawing of Ra's al Ghul. "You know Wonder City, right? The city buried under Sheldon Park, the Bowery, and Park Row?"

"Yes, of course," he said.

"Have you been down there?"

"No, but I know it is a base… You saw him down there?!" His eyes were wide and his worry deepened in his face.

I somewhat bent the truth here and there. "Yeah, but I was hidden. No one saw me. I was scavenging, hiding out, before my Blackgate and Asylum days. Then, I saw him and those assassins passing through and realized that I should not come there ever again. But, I could never forget his face, especially with those bright green eyes. He had such an old world look about him if that makes sense… It was the way he talked and how formal he was… He also seemed weary with age like he had seen a lot of shit."

"You're sure they didn't see you."

"Pretty sure. I doubt they even know or care about my existence, especially when they think _you're_ dead."

"Did you overhear anything?"

"They weren't exactly speaking English, but I remembered hearing one specific word. _Lazarus._ "

"I see…" Tim paused before speaking again, rather cautious with his words. "What do you think that means?"

"I think just about everyone knows about the story of Lazarus. I know because Christian upbringing was shoved into my brain. Anyway, Jesus Christ raised a man called Lazarus from the dead. I'm guessing that's why your old master seems-well-old."

"That's fair to say… He is said to be over 600 years old."

"Well damn, he didn't look bad for 600 years!" I chuckled, trying to ease Tim's tension.

He nodded with a blank face, clearly thinking about something that weighed heavily on his mind.

"But wait, would he have been around when Wonder City was built?"

Tim nodded. "It was his brain-child as you Americans say."

"But wasn't Wonder City condemned because of the toxic liquid that powered it?"

"Yes, it was a failed brain-child that was abandoned."

"Poor brain-child."

Tim snorted. "Perhaps if cities were capable of having feelings... but you investigated the history?"

"Well, I was very curious. Wonder Tower and Wonder City are odd places in Gotham. They seem kinda alien compared to the rest of the city's general theme of Gothic architecture and American industrialization."

Tim gazed at me, concerned. "It's just that anything surrounding this former master is extremely _dangerous_ , Meredith. If anyone catches on that you know or have seen anything you will be in deep trouble. I barely escaped with my life and can still feel the scars." Setting down his notepad, Tim pulled up his black shirt and I saw a long and deep scar that crossed over his fuzzy abdomen. He had a several smaller and older scars, too. "I was very lucky." Then, he pulled his black shirt back down. His notepad started to blow away.

Quickly, I caught the notepad before it could take off. "No, I definitely wouldn't say a word to anyone about that shit," I said, handing his notepad back.

Tim smiled softly and took his notepad back, putting it in his pocket.

"But isn't it dangerous to keep a drawing of him on you?" I asked.

"Yes, but only if I am caught. I am not caught unless hunted by professional, Who would hire professional to catch thief?"

"A rich man… or woman that is pissed off, has a lot of money to burn, and manages to hire a true professional?"

Tim chuckled and gazed off. "All overpaid mercenaries boast their talents but none can keep up with a League assassin that was trained for many years."

"Well, what about Deathstroke? I heard he's pretty damn good."

"Hmph," Tim wrinkled his nose. "Mutant mercenary couldn't beat the Batman in a fight and ended up in prison. I have never been captured by authorities."

I smirked with a chuckle. "And _you_ could beat Batman?"

"Well, _you_ have outwitted him before, haven't you?"

"Barely, and I seriously doubt I could best _him_ in a fight, let alone Deathstroke."

"I could help you fix that," said Tim.

"You're that confident?" I asked, surprised. "I mean you were clocked over the head by a Clayface-Joker last night."

Tim shook his head, dismissing it. "He moved a faster than expected. Joker's movements as I have seen were never so fluid. Most people here can't fight well, so my abilities start rusting. If I start teaching, it could help me remaster what I know and help you improve. You have potential with the ferocity you've demonstrated thus far."

"Wow, uh, thanks."

"Welcome. You wish to start now?"

"Hey, early bitches," said Lucyfer, walking out in a robe with a cup of coffee that I could clearly smell. Lucyfer had just gotten out of the shower, judging by the wet blonde hair and her fresh moderate makeup. She definitely had different tones of color from the bruises, but they were mostly covered by makeup. "Whoever decided to make coffee is my new, best friend."

"You're welcome," said Tim.

"How's your head?"

"Tender."

"How about you, Meredith?"

"I'm okay," I said with a shrug. _Sore all over._

"Well then, you're in the upper tier of people feeling good, Meredith. Mark is out like a light, and we need to run errands. We can take care of that duffle bag, too." She winked at me. "Tim, you stay with Mark and take care of yourself."

"Lucyfer?" Tim asked.

"Yeah?"

"What happened to this burned house?" He asked, pointing behind us.

"... A fire, I guess," said Lucyfer with a shrug. " It happened before I bought it for us. I didn't ask what happened officially. In fact, that's why we got it cheap. Government wouldn't let the last owner demolish and rebuild. They claimed it shouldn't have been built on this spot anyway. Pretty sure they were trying to squeeze the old dude out for the land because that's a prime view of Gotham City out in the secluded woods..." Lucyfer pointed towards the city. "Then again, it's also about 20 miles from an insane asylum." She pointed North. "By the way, did you go running through these woods, Mere? When you escaped?"

"I stole Dr. Giovanni's car," I said. "So no."

"Oh yeah, grand theft auto was on your rap sheet... Well, freshen up and throw on a hat, sunglasses-whatever keeps you cozy in the city. I'm fixing to leave in like twenty minutes." She sipped her coffee and headed back inside.

I followed her and paused to see Tim wasn't getting up. "You coming, Tim?" I asked.

"You go. We practice later."

"Okay." I walked back downstairs and headed to the armory for gear. Mark still snored on his belly on the couch. I pulled on some aviator sunglasses and couple of knives to stick in my boots. I also put a few smoke bombs in the lower pockets of my cargo pants.

"Hey, Mere," hissed Lucy, waving me over to the bathroom.

Curious, I walked over to her as she waited in the bathroom.

"Goddamn, I've been dying to do this." She grabbed some hair stuff and ran it through my hair, spiking it up.

 _I've always had at least one friend that did this, but I am okay with it._

"Have you been a pixie for a long time?" Lucyfer asked.

"No, just since my twenties," I said. "Got tired of doing nothing with my long hair." _Most of the time I can roll out of bed, say "tah-dah!", and brush my teeth._

"Totally. I've done just about every hairstyle except pixie. Hell, I've even shaved half my head and dyed the rest green."

"Wow." _That's dramatic… but I'm not too surprised. Sounds like something Lucyfer would do._

"Ever try a crazy color?" Lucyfer asked.

"Blue, but it was temporary," I said.

"You must love Mark's hair."

"Pretty awesome... " _I kinda do love the color blue._

"And put this lip color on." Lucyfer handed me a lipstick.

I did so while looking in the mirror. It was a soft pink color, almost natural.

"Better," said Lucyfer. "Did you grab a gun with those knives?"

"No, I've never shot one with bullets."

Lucyfer gave me a raised eyebrow as she combed her hair. "Well, we're gonna have to shoot that cherry soon."

"Okay," I said with a shrug.

"But let's wait until the sharp-shooter gets up. Just grab the bag with the baseball bat sticking out of it for now." She started to french braid her wet hair.

I walked out to find the bag she mentioned. It was sitting over by the armory. I looked inside and found a softball, a softball glove, water, bubblegum, a couple of handguns, a box, and a clutch with some money and cards inside. Then, I walked over to the kitchen to wait for Lucyfer. Mark was still snoring away, unstirred by our movement.

Lucyfer came out wearing capris jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. "This is what practicing softball-players wear, right?"

"You're pretty pale for a softball player that's been out in the sun all day," I commented.

"It's still spring and it's been cloudy," she said with a shrug. "Grab the duffel and let's go."

"K." I grabbed the duffle and she took the backpack. We headed upstairs and Tim looked at us, surprised.

"What?" Lucyfer asked.

"Going to baseball practice?" Tim asked.

"It's called softball, Tim. Jeez, you probably call soccer football."

"I know it's called soccer in America. Why softball?"

"I don't know," Lucyfer said, pulling out a softball for reference. "I mean it's not exactly soft. Do you know why, Meredith?"

"Maybe the pitch is softer?" I suggested with a shrug. "Otherwise, it could be a reference to femininity? I don't really know. Those things hurt."

"No," said Tim. "Why dressed to play softball? I remember you hate sports."

"Ohhhh," said Lucyfer. "I'm going incognito, just in case. I don't want some other freak of nature following us back to the safehouse. After this, we only have Ollie's place and trust me we don't want to resort to that. Now come on, Meredith, we're wasting daylight." We headed to the back where there was a vehicle tightly covered by a tarp.

Lucyfer and I loosened the tarp and pulled it off off to find a brown, rusty jeep with no top cover. There were only bars that made the frame for the top. It was probably older than both of us. The inside smelled pretty musty.

"Old guy threw this in with the place," said Lucyfer. "Shitty mileage and no top, but it's a vehicle," said Lucyfer as she tossed her bag in the back. She got into the driver's side and roared to life after a couple of tries.

I walked over to the other side and tried my door. It didn't open.

"Oh and the passenger door doesn't work," said Lucyfer.

"Okay." I grabbed the top frame and lifted my legs through the window. Then, I slid inside and sat down.

As I pulled on my seatbelt, she backed up and sped down a gravel road.

"So you played softball?" Lucyfer asked, over the blowing wind.

"Only for a few years when I was a kid," I replied with a shrug. "I wasn't extremely great and it definitely wasn't my favorite sport. The only thing you're missing are the sunflower seeds."

"...You know I don't think I've ever hit a ball with a bat," commented Lucy.

"Really?"

"Nope. I've hit just about everything else, mostly people."

"Wow."

We got onto a main road and started heading towards Gotham, taking the long way around the bay.

"So your parents never played sports with you?" I asked.

"I was always out playing with the other kids," said Lucyfer. "We'd shoot hoops sometimes, but we mostly played pool, video games, poker, chicken, roof tag, King Crab, and a lot of crazy stuff."

"Whoa, wait, what's King Crab?"

"Oh right, we made it up. It's like truth or dare, but it's specific to stealing. Instead of stealing we'd say pinch because that's the British slang according to Carl. And who pinches a lot? Crabs... So our parents wouldn't think anything of it. If you chickened out of the pinch or got caught, you were a red lobster. Red lobsters have to take the blame for any trouble the remaining players get in until someone becomes King Crab after the other players become lobsters. King Crab keeps all the loot and gets away scott-free. It started small at first like a handful of candy or a mom's bra, but eventually I won forever after stealing a very expensive, white, Rolls Royce from the Sionis garage."

"Damn," I said, surprised.

"I was only twelve, but I don't turn down dares," Lucyfer said proudly.

"What did your parents do?"

She chuckled and shrugged. "Grounded me, but whatever, I snuck out the window. The other parents made my friends stop hanging out with me. Bad influence. I just found other friends. No one stuck around until I found the guys that formed R.I.P. DREAMS with me..." Her smile faded and she sighed.

"I'm sorry about what happened," I said.

"...Me too, but shit happens… I can't even imagine what's it like to be in your boots." She glanced over to me with her dark eyes. "Is it hard for you to be around guys after what happened with that Dr. Giovanni?"

"Sometimes... I just don't trust them as much as I do women."

"Fair enough… but you know Mark and Tim are good guys, right?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I know."

"They're sad weirdos, but they're cool."

I chuckled.

"Do you like either of them? I know you get along pretty well with Mark. And Tim seems likes you."

"I don't think of them that way," I said.

"Oh, okay then."

"...Do you?

"Oh, me? I don't know... I kinda like Tim the most. The strong and silent type and he's got amazing, drawing skills. At the same time, he gets a little tragic after a while. Mark is cute and funny… tall, but occasionally overbearing. I feel like he'd slowly drive me insane the way he sometimes turns into a helicopter mom."

We were quiet for a while.

 _Ask about the barhopping... while you got her alone…_

"Lucyfer. What did Ollie mean about you barhopping?" I asked.

Lucyfer frowned, remembering. "Oh... I just sometimes talk shit while I'm drinking in bars and clubs. It's good for hitting the rumor mill, but you can accidentally send out a few rumors of your own. You mad about that?"

"Not really, but it did almost get us killed by Clayface and a bunch of clown thugs. Mark and I were also nearly caught by Batman and Robin... I was pretty worried about being sent back to the asylum."

Lucyfer groaned and adjusted her cap. "Yeah, that was a dick move on my part. No more bar hopping while in Gotham, I promise."

"Great. Thanks... I just don't want us to get stuck here."

"Nah, I get it. I'm glad you talked to me instead of Ollie. Mark sometimes does that and it kinda pisses me off."

"You can be pretty intimidating to talk to," I said.

"Me? I'm scared of the quiet and cunning, little psycho here." Lucyfer smirked and ruffled my hair.

I snorted.

"You got some serious bite to you underneath all that fluff." She put her hand back on the steering wheel.

"Thanks," I said.

"You're goddamn welcome," Lucyfer said.

We continued our journey in quiet a while longer. Then, she turned on the radio to a metal station for the rest of the way into the city.

We stopped at the store for food supplies and groceries. Then, we stopped by the bank to deposit most of my money and transfer it to an offshore account. It was a courtesy of Great White Shark, our new fence, who had connections with a few people at the bank. Then, we lastly had business with Great White Shark's people down by the Amusement Mile docks. They gave us a heavy, rectangular crate in the backseat in exchange for a box with stacks of money.

Along the drive back, we stopped at a red light and waited for a good while. It turned green and Lucyfer didn't move. A car honked behind us.

I looked at Lucyfer to see what the hold-up was.

She was giving a nasty stare a group of clowns down an alley. They hadn't noticed her yet.

 _Uh-oh..._

"Lucy, let's go," I said, nervously.

She pulled around the block and parked at a meter.

"Lucyfer what are you doing?"

Lucyfer reached across me for the glove compartment and picked out a small bomb with a long fuse and a lighter.

"Jesus Christ, Lucyfer!" I hissed.

"Now I'm gonna need you to light this sucker when I tell you to." She handed me the lighter while holding the bomb in her right hand. "Can you do that for me?"

"Is this really a good idea?" I asked, hesitant.

"It's an amazing idea. Now, are you going to let me fumble with the wheel and a bomb at the same time just because you're scared to light up some clowns in the broad daylight? No one will see shit if you work with me here."

 _Ugh, goddamnit._ "...Okay. Let's just hurry up and do it."

"That's my girl." She got back into the street and went around the block. "Light it!" She said as we turned onto that street again.

I lit the fuse and Lucyfer threw it into the alley as we passed by. A few seconds later, we heard shouts of alarm.. As we turned right, we heard a loud bang and headed out of town. More screams followed with panic of pedestrians as I glanced back.

Lucyfer was smirking harder than I had ever seen her smirk.

 _Conspicuous much?_

She noticed my frown. "What? I hate clowns."

"Aren't we supposed to be avoiding attention?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't see any police cars following us... My week feels incomplete without mangling some clowns... just like you couldn't walk by the Mad Hatter."

 _Really?_ "He kidnapped an innocent girl," I protested. "You know what he does to them. Those thugs weren't doing anything."

"And now they never will..."

"I guess. Damn... If you hate clowns this much, why haven't you killed the Joker who actually caused that massacre?"

Lucyfer inhaled through her nose and exhaled. "Ollie made me promise not to try when we started our partnership... Kept saying it was suicide... She's probably right. I mean, how many other enemies has that stupid clown made? How many enemies worse than me? And none of them have ever killed him in the last several years. What the fuck is up with that?"

"Stupid luck and Batman."

"Batman?" Lucyfer looked over to me.

"If Joker falls out of a building on Batman's watch, Batman will catch him. I've seen it."

Lucyfer shook her head. "Useless goddamn freak in tights," she muttered.

I took out a piece of bubblegum and started chewing it. _It's not always easy to be the Batman..._

"I mean, am I right or am I right?" Lucyfer asked.

"You're right," I said with a nod. "Get us out of here. This crate in the back is kinda conspicuous."

"I forgot traffic is a bitch in the morning," said Lucyfer with a groan before she honked at a slow car in front of us. "YO! I got places to be!" She shouted.

"Like where? Softball practice with your girlfriend?" A guy said from his truck, mockingly.

 _What? Girlfriend?_

"Yeah, and I'll bet you're going to the shop with that hunk of junk," said Lucyfer

"Hunk of junk?" The guy went on to tell Lucyfer about the engine, the lift kit, and other shit. Then, he pointed out the issues with our decrepit jeep.

I was still hung up on how he thought we were lesbian, softball players. _Does he just think all softball players are lesbians or something? What in that dude's brain led him to this conclusion?_ I popped my gum. _Is it because softball players throw bigger balls?... Nah, it's gotta be my hair and Lucyfer's aggressive behavior._

Then, I realized we had an open path ahead of us. "Hey, Lucy, let's go," I said as people started to honk behind us.

Lucyfer held up a hand to me and continued to argue with the guy.

Irritated, I picked up a softball from the backpack as the guy started shouting. Then, I chucked the softball into the guy's head, knocking him the fuck out.

Lucyfer turned back to me, surprised.

"Let's go," I said, leaning back.

"Yes, Ma'am," she said with a smirk before she continued driving. Lucyfer started giggling to herself.

"What?" I asked, unable to help but smile, too.

"Dude, you just nailed that guy with a softball!"

"You two wouldn't stop arguing."

"Yeah, but jeez!"

"It's not like I threw a bomb at him."

"Still, that guy is going to have a concussion at least."

"Maybe it will improve his brain activity," I said, shaking my head. "Lesbian, softball players."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Oh absolutely. He was the one who said it in a negative connotation."

She looked at me, curious. "Are you...?"

"I'm bi or pan," I said. "But as you know, I'm very inactive."

"That's cool." She looked back to the road.

I looked over to her. "You?"

"Same, but more active."

"Cool."

"So, if you're pan, why haven't you tried hanging with women?"

"Dating feels like a waste of time. I'd rather have friends than a significant other."

"Well, dating is like hanging with friends, but just more exciting and interesting."

"In any case, I have never been comfortable in that arena. Don't push me. I'm not interested."

"Sure... I would not do that to you, not unless you asked me to. I really get that there's some things you can't push... like Ollie's agoraphobia... ughh…. found that out the hard way..." Lucyfer had a thoughtful look on her face as she frowned. "She didn't speak to me for a solid month."

We sat quietly for the most of the way home. Lucyfer turned on the radio after a while.

 _Probably can't handle long periods of silence…_

Yawning, I gazed out my open window with tired eyes as we passed through the city traffic.

 _After all the errands and this driving around, I really want to take a nap. Usually, I would've slept in like Mark did, but the nightmare kinda ruined that for me._

We returned home while the sun was high in the sky. As we went downstairs, we saw Mark was still passed out on the couch. Tim was slicing up a bunch of apples in the kitchen.

After Lucyfer and I unloaded everything from the jeep, Lucyfer dropped her backpack by the armory and crept over to Mark.

Tim looked to me and indicated to the apple slices.

 _I think he's offering them up?_

I picked up a few slices and watched Lucyfer mess with Mark.

She bent over the sleeping Mark and swept her hair across his face. Mark's face wrinkled and he rubbed his face.

"Hey," Lucyfer whispered in Mark's ear. "I'm gonna play some bass guitar. Is that cool?"

Mark grunted and buried his face in a pillow.

"Okay." She walked over to her bass guitar.

"She is so mean," Tim commented.

I shrugged. "I've seen worse ways to wake a person up, and this isn't just a Lucyfer thing. It's more common than you think. Last member of the party to wake up tends to get pranked. At drinking parties, you can get an eyebrow shaved off if you pass out early with your shoes on."

"Hmm," Tim said, shaking his head in disapproval

Lucyfer pulled on her bass and turned on the speaker. She chuckled as she looked over to us and then started playing softly. After a minute of Mark still not waking up, Lucyfer grinned and started shredding on her bass guitar very loudly.

It was loud enough for Tim and me to cover our ears in irritation. Mark jerked out of his sleep. He stood up on the couch and waved around before knocking the couch on it's back and hitting a wall.

"Oh shit," I said, covering my mouth.

Tim rushed over to him.

Lucyfer stopped jamming out and started laughing her head off.

Mark groaned and crawled out from the fallen couch. He looked horribly confused and wired. "Holy shit. What happened?"

Tim helped him up. "Lucyfer," he said simply.

"Lucyfer, what the fuck?!" Mark shouted.

Lucyfer was lying on the ground, giggling. "You flailed around like a fish!"

Mark waved at her dismissively in irritation. "Eh what would you know about fishing?... I was sleeping!"

"You can sleep when you're dead, Mark. My God, it's practically afternoon right now."

"Well, we stayed up pretty late last night." Tim helped Mark bring the couch back up. "And we had a hell of a fight since you were bar hopping or whatever."

"We all make mistakes," said Lucyfer dismissively. "Now get this, Meredith has never shot a gun."

Mark looked over to me. "You haven't?"

"No," I said with a shrug.

"Well, I'll show ya', as soon as I get coffee in my system." He flopped on the couch and groaned.

"I will make more," said Tim, walking over to the kitchen.

I brought Mark some apples as Tim dumped out the cold coffee.

"Thanks, Meredith," Mark said smiling at me. "At least, somebody is nice around here," he glared over to Lucyfer who smirked.

"Yep," I said before returning to the kitchen to get a bottled water. Tim reset the coffee pot and gave it a new filter.

"Hey, Mark, how do you like them apples?" Lucyfer asked with a chuckle. She peacefully played some bass while lying on the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that later," said Mark, frowning in annoyance.

"Mark, Mark, you make me so scaaaaared," said Lucyfer in a sarcastic sing-song voice.

Mark threw one of the slices at her and missed.

Lucyfer ate the fallen slice with a grin. "Mark the Marksman had a nice shooting gaaaame," she continued to sing. "But when he threw apples he was _laaaaame_." She giggled and had to stop playing.

I shook my head and drank my water.

"You suck, Lucyfer," said Mark, shaking his head.

"And you swalloooooow..." said Lucyfer in a sing-song voice.

"My missing genitals," muttered Tim.

 _OhmyGod!_ My eyes widened and the water went into my nose as I choked. I was absolutely shocked and awed by Tim's sudden snark. As I cleared my throat, I started snickering. Tears ran down my face. "Oh that's so bad." I wiped off my face with a paper towel.

"Wait what just happened?" Lucyfer asked, sitting up from the floor.

"Are you okay?" Tim asked me.

"I was not expecting you to say that," I said, touching my face with a sigh.

"What did he say?" Lucyfer asked.

I glanced to Tim and couldn't help but start laughing again.

"Oh nothing," said Tim with a shrug.

Lucyfer folded her arms. "Apparently you just laid out a sick burn over there and Meredith is dying. What did you say?"

Tim muttered in a language I didn't recognize.

"Meredith, what did he say?"

"I can't. I can't," I said, shaking my head as I tried to stop laughing.

"Goddammit," said Lucyfer. "She's broken."

I held my sides. "Oh it hurts." Giggling, I walked over to my couch and lied down. As I winded down, I started coughing and tried to relax.

"What did he say, Meredith?"

I waved her away as my face started hurting. "I can't even right now."

Then, Lucyfer's phone started ringing. "I will have answers." She answered the phone. "What?" Lucyfer sighed and shifted uncomfortably.

 _Must be her parents..._

"Ugh, I'm kinda busy right now," continued Lucyfer. "… Yes, well I'm a busy girl so-… Look, Ma, I can't tell you. It's business. I only discuss with my partners… What?... Aw man, you're kidding me. How the hell?-... How's Papa?... Fucking shit… I figured you'd be fine. Sorry… Uhh, I don't know. Sometime before I leave town I guess. Not a word to anyone, Ma… Ma, that's weird... I mean if it was just me… I doubt they're interested." She groaned and looked to us.

"What's up?" Mark asked.

"Somebody's been harassing my parents about me. No one associates the name Lucyfer with them. I owe them and she wants me to visit before I leave town. She's wondering if you guys want to come. Just say no… Ma… No, I'm not gonna put you on speaker. These are my friends… Fine…" She clicked a button on her phone and Tim walked over from the kitchen.

"Hello!" An older and friendly female voice spoke from the phone's speaker. "I'm Angel's mom, but you can call me Helen!"

"Hi, Helen," Mark and I said, awkwardly.

"Hello!" Tim said quickly.

"So, my Angel says you all aren't interested in a nice, home-cooked dinner after your big job. My husband Roy makes amazing pork chops.

 _...Shit. It's been a long time since I've had one of those… that's pretty sad..._

"Angel's just embarassed," said Mark. "We'd love to come over if you'd have us."

"Wonderful!" said Helen.

"Mark!" Lucyfer hissed, disapprovingly.

"Sorry, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he hissed back. "And you're lucky to still have parents."

"Goddammit, Mark."

"So, your name is Mark?" Helen asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," said Mark. "We also got Meredith and Tim here. They're kinda quiet, but they're pretty nice people."

"Is Ollie not there?"

"Ollie never leaves her house, Ma," said Lucyfer. "She's agoraphobic."

"Oh. Perhaps we can make an extra plate for you to take over to her."

"She'd probably like that, thank you," said Mark.

"It's our pleasure. When can we set up a date?"

"Lucyfer?" Mark asked Lucyfer who was scowling.

"Such a clever name. It was Angel's stage name back when she was in that rock band."

"It's metal, Ma," said Lucyfer. "It's more hardcore than rock… but let's say... three weeks from today around six."

"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing all of you."

"We do, too," said Mark.

"Great… Angel... is that Mark your boyfriend? He sounds charming."

I snorted and Mark grinned.

Lucyfer turned bright red and took the speaker off. "No, Ma, and you were still on speaker when you said that!…" She walked away to the armory with her back to us, speaking quietly.

"Prince Charming," said Tim, looking over to Mark.

We snickered.

Lucyfer chucked what I assumed was a gun clip at Tim.

Tim easily caught the clip with one hand and tossed it back over to her.

She missed the catch and flipped him off before she returned to her phone call.

Smirking, Tim returned to the kitchen and got Mark a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, yeah," said Lucyfer. "Bye… yeah… I love you, too," she muttered quietly before hanging up. Then, she turned to us to glare. "Seriously, fuck all you orphans!"

"What did I do?" I asked, confused.

Lucyfer pointed at me. "You laughed."

"What's wrong with a bunch of friends gathering up to have dinner?" Mark asked. "They must miss you with how many times they call your sorry ass."

She folded her arms. "Whatever. It's done. You're all gonna meet my parents, Prince Charming! And maybe I'll tell you about our last Gotham heist later."

"Oh, don't be sore. I owed you for blowing out my eardrums. What's the target?"

"Nope," Lucyfer said, firmly. "Now all of you give me my space, I need to do a private conference with Ollie for planning purposes." She picked up her laptop and set it up in the kitchen.

"What are we supposed to do?" Mark asked.

"I don't know. Go outside and play... Take whatever you need and go."

I shrugged.

"I'll fire up that grill in the back and cook us up some burgers," said Mark. "You guys could grab the condiments and chips."

We sat out on the porch eating burgers and enjoying the scenery around us. None of us could guess what Lucyfer's next target could possibly be, but it had to be big. Tim started to show me a few moves while Mark decided to go fishing at the dock.

Eventually, Lucyfer came out and called us all in.

Tim and I headed in while Mark lagged behind. He had to reel in his line.

"Okay, so any ideas what we're going to be doing for this last heist?" Lucyfer asked.

"Rob a rich person?" I asked with a shrug.

"Of course. Wait, where's Mark?"

"He'll be here soon," said Tim, glancing back at the doors.

"Well, take a look." Lucyfer was very excited as she held up a paper for us. It was a photo of an ornate-looking, black key with an article next to it. " _Playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne puts city keys on display in gala for key of city recipient GCPD Commissioner James Gordon."_

"We're gonna steal a key?" Tim asked, confused.

"What?" Mark asked in confusion as he came in.

"Not just any key," said Lucyfer, "but a ceremonial key to Gotham City that R.I.P. DREAMS almost got for our service to the city. After the massacre, no one wanted to be associated, so they just handed our key to that pansy-ass Bruce Wayne who just added it to his collection of philanthropist awards."

"Okay, so it's sentimental and you want to make a statement?" Mark asked, looking at the paper.

"Dude, it's as long as my arm and is worth 50 million," said Lucyfer. "It's made out of platinum, obsidian, diamonds, and a ruby."

"Jesus Christ, aren't keys to the city usually made of plastic or steel?" I asked.

"That key was commissioned by a rich benefactor that loved my band's work. I think her name was Clara, but she died in the massacre…"

"Holy shit," said Mark. "But we're going to steal this during a gala?"

"Uh-huh. Security is gonna be tight and there will be a lot of people." Lucyferwalked over to the laptop, which showed Ollie by her marker board. There were several red squares and many black circles.

"Go ahead, Ollie," said Lucyfer.

"It will be held at the Royal Hotel ballroom," said Ollie. "The squares are the security display cases which are a similar brand to the one Meredith saw at Pinkney Museum. One bump on the glass and a silent alarm will go off, sending security running. Meredith and Lucyfer will sneak in as roadies for the jazz band, setting up speakers around the room. The speaker by the black key will have _trouble_. I personally modified it for this event. Lucyfer can guide Meredith through the basics of set up. Since the equipment is old, the numbers will have gone away, but Lucyfer will leave specific markings for different phases of the plan. Meanwhile, Mark and Tim will infiltrate security and help with any security problems that come. While the band is on break and leaving Lucyfer as the DJ, Lucyfer will play a few songs. Meredith will mess with the master speaker by the black key, pretending to troubleshoot it. In truth, she will turn the knob to a marked point and turn it on. When that's done. Everyone will need to put in their ear plugs. Lucyfer will come out stage and start shredding her guitar, distracting everyone in the audience with the very loud noise. When she hits a certain point that I have discussed with her, the glass will break." Ollie scratched a red marker on the square. "Meredith will be able to grab the key and run off the balcony in a paraglider. Tim will run and cover her. Mark will chase down Lucyfer through the kitchen and escape together. Everyone else will be too bothered by the continued resonance to do anything except run and cover their ears in pain."

"So it's like how singers can break glass with a long, high note?" Mark asked.

"Exactly, but with more science put behind it," said Ollie. "You see, it's more about the intensity of a frequency than a specific note. Everything has a specific frequency. When you meet that frequency and hold it, the object vibrates until it breaks. Singers tend to focus on crystal glass. Their ability to break it via sound requires skill, talent, and luck. If the crystal glass in question has miniscule cracks or flaws as some tend to have, that can make it easier to break. After some painstaking experiments, I have the frequency to break the security glass, which is significantly stronger."

"Fucking exciting, right?" Lucyfer asked. "Gives me a little closure from this place by re-earning what the band deserved. Then, we go down in history for breaking security glass with a fucking bass and the _trouble_ speaker."

"Yeah, that's pretty awesome," said Mark.

"Very impressive, but could sound break the key?" I asked.

"Different frequency, Meredith," said Ollie. "Also, want a demonstration?"

"Yeah!"

Ollie wiped away the board and clicked at the projector so it showed a video of the display case twenty feet away from the camera. A man out in the woods gave a thumbs up and set up a speaker. The video was muted and the security glass shattered twenty seconds later.

"Damn," I said.

Lucyfer spoke. "We'll have this down to a perfect science. In the meantime, I will be in and out practicing my riff and working Meredith and me into sound."

"One more thing," I interjected. "Is the frequency going to seriously hurt anyone in the room?"

"Well," said Ollie, considering that. "It might hurt them if they're close to the speaker and don't have the common sense to get away from it… Anyways, Tim and Mark, I will be getting you into security. I have a contact from school that's gonna slip you in. I'll order uniforms and work out IDs for everyone. Meredith and Lucyfer will need to grab some-ugh, what do you call them, Lucyfer?"

"Blacks," said Lucyfer. "... all black attire... but the gala will want us to dress nice. No t-shirt and cargo pants." Lucyfer looked at me.

"No dresses either," I said, folding my arms and frowning. "If we're supposed to move and set up a bloody, sound system, I require pants."

"I don't know. If we gotta go with Plan B, I'm gonna need you to wear a pretty, black dress and sing loud enough to break the glass."

"No," I said. "I don't sing in front of people."

"Just in the shower when you think no one can hear you." She chuckled.

"Conversation over," I said, very uncomfortable. "What else needs to be done, Ollie?"

"That's about it," said Ollie. "Heal up and prepare yourselves for the heist as well as the usual cabin fever."

"Okay, thanks," I said.

"Man, you really cannot take a compliment sometimes," said Lucyfer, eyeing me.

"That was clearly a compliment with intent to tease," said Ollie. "Tends to come off a little less flattering than a straight-on compliment."

"Thank you," I said to Ollie.

"You're welcome."

"Can we really not discuss this?" Lucyfer asked. "I mean have you guys heard her sing?" She looked to Mark and Tim "I mean what did you think?"

"It was nice," said Tim.

"Yeah, it was very nice," said Mark. "But you seem to know very obscure songs that I've never heard before. Some of them would seem like one of the popular songs, but they're not."

"I... had a friend that gave me mix tapes of things he found and made," I lied with a shrug. "All I have now is memories since everything from my past life is gone."

"Well, maybe we could make a new mixtape sometime," said Mark. "Put together what you remember. Ollie and Lucyfer are really good at that stuff and Tim and I would love to help out."

"Absolutely," said Lucyfer.

"Yes," said Tim.

"Count me in as long as we're not in a ridiculous time crunch," said Ollie.

"Thanks, Guys," I said. "That's really nice of you to offer, but you don't have to."

"Nope, I just added it to my list of projects," said Ollie. "It's called Meredith Mixtape, by the Drifter Gang."

I smiled softly. _That is supremely nice, but they might forget about it. I'll just see what happens._ "I'll try to think of the ones I like and remember the most. Otherwise, I like the R.I.P. DREAMS albums."

"The best people do," said Lucyfer.

Mark snorted. "That's so pretentious."

Lucyfer pointed to Mark. "And you're pretentious for calling me pretentious."

Mark frowned. _Likely questioning the logic of Lucyfer's statement._

She clapped her hands. "Okay, let's get drunk!"

We got that night and several nights after that. Tim and I stopped after the third day to focus on training. I got a little better at climbing and felt stronger over time. His speed was better, but I had occasional bouts of unpredictability.

Mark took me to the shooting range to practice. My ability was nowhere near as good as his, but he kept reassuring me that I could be better with practice. In the second week, he took Tim and me hunting in the woods on the West side. I aimed for a deer and I shot a bush instead. Mark and Tim managed to get one while I kept missing. I felt like such a loser. As we came over, Tim noticed a dead porcupine nearby. One of my bullets had nailed the poor guy right in the head. Shooting was exciting, but I preferred using my hands and knife to fight. Shooting made me nervous with how loud it was.

I picked up some black slacks with deep pockets; black, dress boots; and a nice, black shirt. Lucyfer also bought me a long-haired, black wig. The wig was for the sole purpose of seeing me with long hair and disguising me. I was going to be sweating to death on heist night.

On the day of the heist, Lucyfer and I set ourselves up at a temporary apartment. She helped me get the wig on perfectly so it would stay on. Lucyfer also gave me some natural makeup touches and braided the long, black wig.

"Okay, you're perfect," said Lucyfer

I got up from the chair and she sat down in front of the mirror. "Do me now."

"Me?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Do me like a roadie."

I snorted.

"Well… if you want to," she said, winking.

I shook my head and brushed her hair into a firm ponytail with a few bobby pins to secure loose hairs. Then, I did my best to do a natural makeup with soft pink lipstick to match her fading red streaks in her hair. It was not often that I did someone else's makeup.

"Hey, you're not too bad," she said, surprised. "How come you don't do makeup more often?"

"Makeup costed money I couldn't afford and a lot of the time I didn't have much patience for it. I mostly reserved it for special occasions."

"Well, nothing more special than receiving a ceremonial key," said Lucyfer, grinning up at me. "So you ready to go?"

"Whenever you are."

"Let's go!"

We headed over to pick up the equipment and set up over at the Royal Hotel's ballroom. A really buff security guard eye-balled us, practically daring us to steal the keys. _He was also likely questioning our career paths as women, too._ We set up the speakers, subwoofers, amps, microphones, and the mixer for the DJ desk. As we finished basic checks, the musicians eventually walked in for a rehearsal/sound check. It was an okay, jazz band, but I much preferred the blues. Lucyfer balanced out the sound with ease. I followed her around like a puppy that didn't really know what else to do. As the musicians took a break, we walked over to the speaker by the black key.

The security guard casually imposed his presence by standing closer to us.

Lucyfer rolled her eyes. We crouched down by the speaker.

"Okay, if this speaker gives us _trouble_ , I want you to turn it up to here." She pointed to a red notch by a knob. "You got ear buds just in case?" She asked, popping a piece of gum in her mouth.

"Yep."

"Wonderful." She offered me some gum and I took it.

"Trouble with the equipment?" The guard asked us, stepping closer and towering over us.

We stood back up.

"Rented equipment can always be troublesome," said Lucyfer, dismissively. "But it's not like it's gonna blow up or something. It just might lose connection because it's temperamental." She blew a bubble. "But I doubt anyone would notice anyway. If it don't go well, I gotta report it to the rental and they're gonna scrap it."

"I see."

I noticed that his tag said "Bolton". He had to be in his late thirties or so.

"Do you have a problem, Sir?" Lucyfer asked, clearly getting a bit annoyed.

"Not sure I like your tone... Nancy," said Bolton, reading Lucyfer's name tag and folding his arms.

 _Wait a minute… as in Lyle Bolton?! Lock-Up Bolton? Super hot headed and extremely judgemental guard?!_

"Not sure I like yours either... Bolton," said Lucyfer, reading his name tag.

"Guys, guys, we're all just trying to do our jobs here," I piped up. "Staff members get along better when they work together and trust that they know how to do their job. We got some more mixing to do and you probably have your own security rounds you gotta make. Remember, it's just a one-night gig."

Bolton gave me a look and then looked over to Lucyfer. "Stay out of trouble." He walked away.

Lucyfer popped her gum. "Prick," she muttered and we walked over to the DJ table to continue working. "Why do I feel like I know that name? Bolton?"

"I think he was a prison guard," I murmured. "Lock-up Lyle."

She chuckled. "Nice. Might have to tell security about him. That guy's trouble."

"Mmm-hmm."

Lucyfer pulled out her phone and started texting as we sat down at the DJ table. Catering started to show up to finish dressing up tables and roll out a pyramid of champagne as well as an swan, ice sculpture. The Jazz band warmed up and started playing as Bruce Wayne showed up. Bruce Wayne looked the place over. He had slicked-back dark hair, a strong chin, and was buff as a man could get. His tuxedo looked sharp on him.

Bruce Wayne gave the band a thumbs up and nodded to us with a smile.

Lucyfer nodded as well.

I pretended not notice him and acted like I was messing with controls.

"God, I want to hit him," Lucyfer murmured to me, smiling like she was saying something nice.

I covered my mouth and chuckled.

"Do you think he's cute?"

"He's built like a skyscraper," I said dryly.

"Or a sculpture... with that chin. He's walking over here."

"Great," I said sarcastically.

"I gotta piss," Lucyfer said, leaving me at the table.

"What? No!" I hissed.

Lucyfer headed away and winked at me.

Bruce Wayne walked up to me and held out his hand. "Hello there," he said with a deep charismatic voice. "Bruce Wayne."

"Hi," I said softly. _Please do not recognize me…_ I shook his hand firmly and looked at his blue eyes despite my timidness.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, it's uh M-Mel Brooks, but call me Mel, Mr. Wayne."

"Nice to meet you, Mel. Call me Bruce. I've never seen you two with this band before."

"Well, we're filling in for the usual folks," I said, with a shrug. "Nancy who just left is the soundmaster, I'm still learning from her. I know how to hook things up and everything, but I'm still figuring out the mixer stuff."

"Well, you probably know more than me."

I shrugged. "It's not too hard the more you practice, but I suppose that could be said about anything."

"True… and I noticed that one speaker over there isn't working."

I sighed. "Yeah, it's been through some abuse over the years. Jesus Christ. We would've grabbed another one if we knew ahead of time. Between you and me were kind of hoping that no one would notice the issue and at least respect the symmetrical placement of the speakers. I mean if it really bothers you we can unplug it and pull out all the laid-down cable-"

"Oh no, it's all right. Just making sure you knew."

"Great. As Nancy would say, the day we don't notice is the day we go deaf."

He chuckled. "Where did she run off to?"

"The Ladies' room. Must be giving herself a little powder."

"Gotcha."

"Are all those keys over there yours?" I asked, pointing to the cases.

"Mine and a few family heirlooms as well. The Wayne's have long prided themselves on making Gotham City a better place."

"Wow."

"Bruce!" called a woman's voice

"Well, I better start greeting guests," said Bruce Wayne, "but it was good to talk with you, Mel."

"Thanks, Mr. Wayne-er-Bruce."

He walked over to met a woman and kissed her cheek.

I looked down at my feet.

Lucyfer eventually returned and sat down. "So, how'd it go?"

"It was fine if you think me stuttering and rambling is fine," I said, somewhat bitter. _I hope he did not recognize us._

"What did you talk about?"

"He didn't recognize us as the regular sound people of this band, asked if I knew that "trouble" speaker wasn't working, and I asked him if all those keys were his."

"Hmm, very boring. You should've told him that he looks like a skyscraper."

I kept a straight face. "I am a professional… not a flirty, fan girl."

"The flirty, fan girl inside of you is screaming right now."

I snorted. "He just does a lot for the city if you ignore the playboy stuff he does."

"Like what?"

"Creates jobs, funds businesses and causes throughout town. He's not like Penguin who is always out to turn a profit. He genuinely cares about this city and its people. You can tell."

"Not enough to give me what was rightfully mine," Lucyfer murmured.

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you have a point there."

We remained at the table for a long while and Lucyfer adjusted sound as needed. After a while, the jazz band took a break. Commissioner Gordon was awarded a key to the city by the Mayor. Then, Lucyfer started playing jazzy songs for the band's break. As the third song began, she nodded to me and I started walking across the gala floor towards the _trouble_ speaker. I kept my head down and politely spoke when I needed to walk through people. Then, a man bumped into me, making me knock into Commissioner Gordon who spilled his drink on himself.

 _SHIT!_

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, Commissioner Gordon," I said, covering my mouth. _Please don't somehow recognize my face._

"Oh it's all right," he said. "I saw what happened." The commissioner eyed the guy who bumped into me. I looked too and the guy was rushing off somewhere.

I looked back at Commissioner Gordon and saw I spilled on his shirt.

He saw it too and pulled out a handkerchief, starting to dab at it.

"It might help take it out a bit if you dilute it with water in the restroom," I said. "Works for me on carpet. Just pour water on it while it's still wet and press it with a dry towel to absorb the liquid. Don't rub it."

"I think I'll try that. Thanks-" He looked at my nametag. "Mel."

"Welcome, Sir, and I'm sorry."

"It's fine. If you didn't do it, then I might've done it later." He started walking to the restroom and I approached the _trouble_ speaker. Kneeling down, I pulled out my earplugs and jammed them into my ears. I felt myself shaking a bit as I adjusted a knob and turned it on. _Here we go._

Then, I gave Lucyfer a thumbs up. She mess with some things on the mixer and hopped up on the stage with her bass. The music slowly faded out and she plugged her bass in. "Hello, Gotham City!" Lucyfer called out on the mic.

Everyone turned to her, surprised and confused.

"I got a number just for you."

I stepped away from the speaker casually.

Lucyfer started riffing on the bass hardcore. Everyone covered their ears. Some ran while others didn't know what to do. I did the same as the speaker started making the whole place rumble, or maybe it was just my skin crawling. _What was in that speaker?_

Then, Lucyfer hit that vibration frequency and the glass started cracking. I mentally prepared myself for the jump.

Then, the sound was suddenly interrupted by a gunshot and screams.

Lucyfer was suddenly holding her shoulder. Looking over, I saw the shooter was by the entrance. It was the Joker, who was backed by twenty or so thugs.

 _Oh no… this is very very bad..._

Everyone started running back from him and I got against the wall. As several people stepped on my toes, I cursed and pushed them forward. _I miss my steel toed boots..._

The thugs started shooting and shouted for the screamers to shut up as they continued to back into me.

"Lucyfer from R.I.P. DREAMS everyone, give her a hand," said the Joker as he strolled up towards the stage. "She's gonna need one. Hahahahahahahahaha!"

"Suck off, you cunt-muffin!" said Lucyfer in the mic.

"Tsk tsk tsk, such rude language. Papa spank." Joker aimed his gun at Lucyfer.

Tim lunged from the crowd, and Joker shot at him. The other thugs followed suit, but it took several bullets before Tim fell at Joker's feet.

"Lucyfer!" I shouted in the back of the civilian herd, making heads turn and look at me. "Play your guitar!" I shouted.

Lucyfer blinked out of her glaring trance and started playing. The place started shaking again and everyone covered their ears.

I pushed my way forward in the crowd. When I reached the front, I saw Joker was ferociously beating Tim with a bat. It was like the extreme sound was hurting his ears to the point he was angry and lashing out.

Thugs started pointing their guns at Lucyfer and running to her. Mark started shooting them down.

I ran over to the Joker while his back was turned. Then, Joker saw me coming and took a swing, knocking me to the ground. My earplugs popped out, and my ears rang and hurt. Quickly, I covered my ears to protect them from the sound of the bass.

The sound of the bass guitar suddenly stopped. People sighed with relief. I had no idea what stopped it.

"Who do you think you are, sneaking up on Mr. J like that, Kiddo?" Joker asked with a chuckle.

Speechless, I crawled back as he came closer and closer with the bat. _It's all gone wrong again. Why? Why does it have to go this wrong again?_

"Nothing to say, eh? Sorry about your boyfriend, but sometimes we gotta resolve things like men."

"You're not a man," I said as I struggled to my feet.

"Ohoho, what am I then? A beast? A lunatic? I would really love to know!" He swung at me and I dodged.

"You're a pathetic, sick joke of a human being. A real man wouldn't do the shit you do."

He laughed at me. "Good lord. What do you think a real man is, Sweetie? A knight in shining armor that goes to work and comes home to his sweet family day after day only to get his face beaten in by some pathetic, sick joke while the family home is going up in flames?"

"Honestly, anyone that doesn't smack around his girlfriend and hurt innocent people like an uneducated and uncultured blockhead."

"Oh, this is rich coming from a thief."

"It's sad really."

"Sad as a thief getting her head bashed in?" Joker swung at me again. I caught the bat and kicked him in the nuts.

"Ooh feisty," he squeaked. "As he got back, thugs started running in and I started beating them with a bat. I took a few bullets from the ones wielding guns and managed to beat them to submission. Breathing heavily, I leaned against the broken, black key case. Joker was approaching me again and I groaned.

"Babycakes, you need to take it easy and smell the roses," said the Joker before he touched his flower, squeezing out acid.

I quickly ducked down and I felt burning on my shoulder. "FUCK!" I shouted. Then, I swept his legs out, knocking him down to the ground. Grabbing, his green hair, I smacked his face on the floor several times as hard as I could

He giggled between hits and on the fourth one he spoke. "Daddy, I didn't do it. Hehe."

I dropped him on the ground and got up to look at the black key. It was partially melted by the acid.

 _Goddamn it… Lucyfer is gonna be pissed._

I picked up the melted key with a handkerchief and put in my bag. _As long as they know we took the key, I guess._

Then, Joker suddenly leapt up and stabbed me in the chest by my heart.

"MEREDITH!" I heard Mark shout.

My lips parted in surprise. I dropped the bag on the ground as Joker pinned me against the glass.

"You got heart, Kiddo. Maybe a little too much." He cackled. Blood and pain ran down my torso as he twisted the blade.

My eyes widened as the pain intensified. I reached for a piece of broken glass behind me as he continued to laugh. Then, I stabbed him with some sharp glass.

He stepped back, looking at the wound in his side. Then, he looked up to me. Before he could speak, a large dark shape tackled him to the ground.

I put my bag on my shoulders and sauntered to Mark who was had Tim over his shoulder. He waved his gun at the terrified crowd of rich people and public figures. "Stay back!"

Batman threw a batarang towards Mark. I attempted to catch it. Both my shoulders still hurt, so I only managed to deflect it from its intended path.

"Let's go!" I shouted, running to the balcony.

Mark followed with Tim over his shoulder and I looked back for Lucyfer.

Robin was trying to separate Lucyfer and thugs who were currently at each other's throats. Batman was running after Mark, Tim, and me. _This is gonna hurt._

Stopping, I turned and held up one hand. Reaching my pocket with the other, I pulled a grenade pin.

He tackled me to the ground and I struggled with him. Since he was stronger and nowhere near as hurt as me, he pinned me easily.

"What's in my pocket?" I said softly.

He frowned.

The grenade went off in my pocket, blasting him back off me. My ears rang and I did not feel good. _Oh… that was a bad idea… Fuck me..._

Lucyfer ran over to me and I couldn't hear what she was saying, but she was upset and screaming at me. She pulled me to my feet and helped me hobble to the balcony even though I really did not want to. Mark was still waiting for us with Tim on his back. When Mark saw me, he looked absolutely horrified. Lucy threw smoke bombs down and pulled me over the ledge.

I hung onto her and we parachuted down to the streets below. Mark and Tim went down with us and we tumbled down through an alley to make our escape. We limped along and ducked into a factory and heard the squealing noise of a vehicle speeding off. If all went as planned, they would chase that vehicle instead of hunting for us. Granted, Batman might be in no shape to chase us right now.

We hid in the old office and sat quietly on the floor like we were in lockdown.

My hearing started to come back. I lied on the floor, bleeding heavily.

Mark started quickly working on patching Tim and me up. In the very least, he was stopping all the bleeding.

"Meredith?" Lucyfer asked, hovering over me. "Can you hear me?"

"Now I can," I said.

"What the fuck were you thinking?"

"I don't want to go to Arkham… but I sincerely regret it now."

"How the fuck are you still alive?!" Mark hissed. "Let alone conscious?"

"Well, it did mostly hit my leg… It was originally in my pocket. I don't know. Sometimes, I'm lucky."

"I guess. Holy shit."

"Shh," said Lucyfer. We all listened intently, hearing sirens of police cars coming.

"Can someone pull this wig off?" I asked, not wanting to move my arms.

"Yeah." Lucyfer started messing with my wig, pulling out bobby pins.

When we felt safe enough to move around, we started putting on mechanic jumpsuits over our clothes. Then, we hopped into our white, getaway van and Mark drove us off. Lucyfer was in the passenger seat and I lied in the back with Tim.

We traded out the van with the brown, safehouse jeep and headed on home.

Lucyfer helped me finish patch up as I sat on a chair while Mark patched up Tim on the medical cot. We all changed into clean summer clothes.

"Did anyone happen to get the key?" Lucyfer asked as she started calling Ollie on the laptop.

"I did," I said reluctantly as I finished putting gauze on my leg. "But it got some acid damage when the Joker sprayed his flower at me." I showed her the key.

Her face tensed and a vein started popping up in her forehead. She looked like she was about to explode. Lucyfer took the key and studied it as she waited for Ollie to answer.

After a long silence, Ollie finally answered the video call.

"Jesus," Ollie said, seeing me in front. "What happened?" She adjusted her glasses.

"Nothing good," I said sadly.

"ABSOLUTE-FUCKING-DISASTER!" Lucyfer shouted. Absolutely livid, she threw the key into a corner and paced around the room.

"What happened, Meredith?" Ollie asked me.

"Joker showed up, followed by Batman," I explained. "Had to run from the scene. Tim is seriously injured and I kinda am, too. I mean we're all hurting really." I popped some pain pills and drank some water.

Ollie sighed. "Goddammit."

"THIS IS THE LAST GODDAMN STRAW!" Lucy said, red in the face. "WE ARE GOING TO GET HIM AND WE ARE GOING TO GET HIM GOOD!"

"Lucyfer, no," said Ollie, firmly.

"What do you mean no?" Mark asked, with sparks of anger in his brown eyes.

"You promised, Lucyfer."

"Ollie, he deliberately fucked with our last heist in town!" Lucyfer shouted.

"How would he even know about the heist?!" Ollie asked, getting irritated.

"I don't fucking know, but I am so done! I want him and all his thugs dead! Who else is with me?" Lucyfer stopped and looked around the room.

"Me," said Mark, coldly.

They all looked to me.

I sighed. "I just want to get out of this psychotic town before something worse happens."

"Where's the fight in you, Meredith?" Lucyfer asked astonished. "You murdered a rapist in cold blood. Tore him limb from limb! But you run into a maniac that has murdered hundreds, nearly killed us all-Tim might be breathing his last breath over there- A misogynistic, sadistic, fucking clown! And you want to do is to turn tail and run like a fucking coward?"

I inhaled, getting irritated. "Okay, I just took a grenade so we could all escape from Batman! And I managed to get the goddamn key you wanted." I said, angry. "He probably wants you to do to strike back, Lucyfer. He wants you to come in, guns blazing and try to fuck with him. Fuck that clown's games! If we don't get out now, this place will rip us apart. That's what happens when you stay here."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"This place is not a place of happy endings, Lucyfer. Your whole life was destroyed when you came back home. All the worst things of my life happened in this place. I see it in the people around me, getting dragged down by the madness and sadness that's never gonna stop. If Joker goes down, he'll try to take us with him. Let's just get out while we still can."

"Thank you, Meredith," said Ollie. "At least someone has some goddamn sense..."

"You know what? Fuck you, Ollie," said Lucyfer. "You sit safely in the comfort of your home while we face all the danger because you're too chicken-shit to leave your own house."

"Whoa, wait, no," piped up Ollie. "Fuck you, Lucyfer! This chicken-shit has been a guide for every big heist you've ever done. Without me, you'd still be stealing cars out of garages. And fuck me if I don't want you all walking into a fucking shoot out. Meredith has a fucking point and you're too full of anger and hurt pride to recognize sense. Meredith and I were both in Arkham and we know that insanity all too well. He loves attention and doesn't stop for anything."

"So we should just let him do whatever he wants?!" Mark snarled. "Not even try to fight him back?! He is just a man!"

"He's an evil psychopath with a psychotic girlfriend and an army of thugs!" Ollie countered. "We are a small gang of thieves: two able-bodied hotheads, one that can barely walk, one bed-ridden, and an agoraphobic. You're ready to massacre all those people at the risk of losing everything, Mark?"

"Those aren't people, Ollie," said Lucyfer. "Those are a bunch of muscle-heads and psychotics that deserve to die for the shit they've done! Each of us are worth ten of them!"

I massaged my temples with my fingers. _This can't keep going..._

"You're willing to sacrifice everything over a heist gone wrong?!" Ollie retorted. The safety and well-being of this entire crew when you'd be better off leaving this miserable place for good? Do you know what they'll do to you if they catch you? They won't just shoot you. They will torture and butcher all of you! How badly do you want to die? Jesus Christ, Lucyfer!"

"The suffering won't stop until they're dead, Ollie," said Mark. "And by Meredith's logic, since _you_ stay here, _you_ run the risk of being attacked by the likes of them. Would you just want us to forget that? Just find someone else to replace you?"

"I don't live in the fucking city, you moron! I sit safely in the comfort of my own home, remember?"

"Moron?" Lucyfer asked, folding her arms. "At least, Mark has the balls to attack his enemy head on. You try to get away with mailing a nail bomb to the Scarecrow. What do you call that?"

"Tactical... smart, because I actually use my brain instead of just bouncing around blowing up on everything that makes me the slightest bit angry. I don't starve for attention to feed my over-inflated ego."

"Say that to my face, you quivering cunt!"

"That's enough," I said.

"But you can't," said Lucyfer, ignoring me. "Because you're too pathetic to leave your home. You have a fucking safety protocol that makes your entire house blow up if anyone tries to break in and get you. You're useless in a real fight. You can't kill the Scarecrow because you can't fight your own bullshit fears and get him yourself."

"How well did killing the Joker go for you last time?" Ollie asked, coldly. "While your band friends and fans were getting slaughtered? How many nights did you go to sleep with your pillow drenched in tears because you weren't strong enough to beat him and save them?"

"You take that back," said Lucyfer, darkly.

"It only hurts because it's true."

Lucyfer shook with rage and put on her coat. "I'm gonna make you blow up your fucking house."

"Whatever allows you release your angst like a teenage girl because you can't do shit about the source!"

I got up and grabbed Lucyfer's shoulder. "Lucyfer, don't!" I begged.

"Let go of me!" She shouted at me before shoving me away.

 _It's really come to this?_

"I want her to come over!" Ollie said.

"I'm fucking coming!" Lucyfer kept walking away from me, towards the door.

"That's enough!" I shouted before I grabbed her arm and yanked her down on the floor.

"Fuck off, Meredith! Lucyfer snarled as she struggled to get up. "I'm murdering someone tonight!"

I stood between her and the door. "No, there's been enough of that, tonight."

She glared at me. "You think you can stop me? Fucking try!"

"Lucyfer..." said Mark, trying to calm her..

"Shut up, Mark." She charged at me.

Holding my ground, I hooked her across the face as hard as I could. The impact laid her out across the floor with a thump.

"Now, sit there, and listen," I said as firmly as I could, really feeling that punch in my shoulder.

"Why? Are you suddenly the leader now?" Lucyfer asked, rubbing her face before she leapt to her feet again. "Show me your bite, you bitch."

"What's happening, Mark?" Ollie asked, since the laptop was facing away from us.

Lucyfer attacked again, but this time she hit me really hard in my cheek. I hit her back and we started catfighting the shit out of each other. Neither of us were backing down even though we were both in a great deal of pain. She scratched my neck. I pulled her hair. She kicked my face. I socked her gut.

"Meredith, Lucyfer, stop!" said Mark, running up to us.

"No, this is happening right here right now!" Lucyfer shouted before kicking Mark in the balls.

He groaned and got back, holding his groin.

I took the opportunity to tackle her to the hard ground with an uff. The impact on her head left her dazed. Quickly, I grabbed her arms and held them down as I sat on top of her. I pinned her legs under mine.

She realized what was happening and spat blood at my face, attempting to distract me.

I winced as the spit ran down my face, but I held on. Her writhing, thin body was no match against the distribution of my weight and grip.

"Let go of me!" She shouted at me, breathing hard.

"I'll bet she went down like a bitch," said Ollie as Mark lied on the ground, still holding his groin.

"Shut the fuck up, Ollie! " I shouted breathlessly at the computer screen.

Ollie blinked, taken aback. "...Meredith, I'm on your side..."

"My side is the Drifter gang side, Ollie," I said, catching my breath. "We're all fucking angry as hell... but we're also scared." I looked down to Lucy. "I know how much you've suffered because of Joker. Ollie and I don't want anything else to happen because he's unpredictable as hell. Mark and you want to murder Joker so he never can hurt anyone again because he's still just a man. We all got our opinions, but we're missing one last vote here." I nodded over to Tim. "When Tim wakes up, we can reach a majority rule and work to the same goal. We all go after him with a strategy or we all leave this town. Can we all agree to that?" I looked up to Ollie and Mark.

Ollie sighed. "Yeah I guess."

"Yeah," said Mark with a tight voice.

I met Lucyfer's dark brown eyes that still glared up to me.

"I know Ollie said some pretty mean shit," I said. "But you did, too."

"What if Tim doesn't wake up?" Lucyfer sneered.

"We'll think of something else if it comes to that, but now we're done." I waited a moment and let go of Lucyfer's hands. Then, I wiped her bloody spit off my face.

She lied there for a moment and hit me one more time across the face.

I didn't hit back. _Some people just need the last strike._

"Get off of me," said Lucyfer, relatively calm but still aggravated.

I got off of her and offered a hand up.

Lucyfer looked away from me, remaining still on the ground.

"Okay," I said, wiping my bloody knuckles on my pants. "I'm sorry for hitting you."

She wiped away the blood trickling from her mouth. "Whatever..."

I closed the laptop and walked over to Mark. "You need some ice?"

"Yep..." Mark said,breathlessly.

I walked over to the freezer and got him a bag of frozen peas. Mark held the frozen bag on his groin and closed his eyes.

Then, I approached Tim to see how he was doing on the medical cot. He still seemed to be unconscious after all our squabbling and fighting.

 _Get better soon ... please. We're at war with ourselves without you._

I touched his forehead. He seemed to be normal, temperature-wise, but I wasn't a doctor or nurse. _Useless._ Sighing, I limped towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Mark asked.

"Gonna get some air," I said, feeling fatigued. I walked outside. Everything was only lit by the moonlight and the nearby lights of the city across the bay. This time, I decided to walk all the way down to our dock. I pulled off my boots and socks, sticking my sweaty and aching feet in the cold water. It made me inhale a bit at first, but I settled into it as I relaxed my breathing. I gazed towards the bright city skyscrapers and listened to the sounds of the water, crickets, and frogs.

 _With Gotham nearby, I can't help but think of things that might lurk in the water... Killer Croc... snakes..._

 _But after that fight, I almost wouldn't care if something tried to drag me under. It's been such a miserable night. This goddamn place and all its drama..._

I lied down on the dock to stare at the moonlit sky. There weren't many stars because we were still close to the city.. It made me miss the countryside where you could see millions of stars... the grassy plains that waved in the wind for miles and miles, reminding me that nature was alive and breathing with me. Mindlessly, I gently waved my feet around in the water, letting my mind go to the serenity above me. My eyes slowly closed and relaxed. The pain I felt in all my wounds started hurting less.

Then, I felt someone touching my face, patting it gently.

Groggy, I opened my eyes and saw Harley Quinn looking down at me with no makeup. Her face was upside down from my perspective and her blonde hair was dangling in my face.

"What happened to you?" She asked me with her high, Jersey accent voice.

"Huh?" I said. _She must not know I fought the Joker earlier._

"Harley, let's go," said a seductive, female voice. "They're coming."

I looked over to see Poison Ivy standing in the boat. Her radiant, red hair was almost black in the moonlight while her green skin looked gray. I felt my heart beat a little faster. _Pheromones. It's just pheromones._

Then, I looked over to the woods and saw flashlights. There were dogs barking. _Aw shit. No time to hide in the basement._ "Oh no. No no no no," I groaned.

"Leave her," said Poison Ivy.

"Yeah," I agreed, weakly sitting up. "Row for 100 feet and then start the motor. Otherwise they'll hear you. I'm just gonna hide under the dock."

"But that water is cold," protested Harley.

"That's my problem."

"Wait, why are you hiding?" Poison Ivy asked.

"I escaped a year ago."

"See, Red," said Harley. "She's like us. Do you know the water pretty well, Missy?"

"I guess," I said with a weak shrug.

"Get in the boat. We'll row."

I sighed, not wanting to argue anymore, and stepped in the boat by the motor.

Harley sat next to Ivy.

I released the line holding the boat. "Start rowing southwest."

"Where?"

"That way," I said, pointing southwest.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" They started rowing together and I watched the flashlights in the trees. _Please don't see us._

"You didn't answer her question earlier," said Poison Ivy.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Why are you injured?"

"Some clown thugs beat me up."

"Yeah, the boys are pretty rough," said Harley with a chuckle.

"Even so, I guarantee all those assholes will be feeling it tomorrow if they aren't already."

"Was Mr. J there?"

"Yeah, hit me with some acid and beat up my friend. Fucking dick."

"Yes, but he's my fucking dick."

 _I guess…_ I shook my head. "Doesn't he… abuse you?"

"All the time," said Poison Ivy, grimacing.

"Not all the time," said Harley, defensive. "And it's just tough love. I can take it."

"It's not a question of if you _can_ , Harl. It's a question if you _should_. That's the only reason I let you out tonight. You promised you wouldn't run back to him again."

"I know. I'm not. I'm just- I can't drop him like he's nothin', Red. It's hard."

"Like an addiction?" I suggested.

"Yeah, she gets it." Harley gestured to me.

"I just don't see how anything about the Joker could be pleasurable," said Poison Ivy. "I mean look at her," she pointed to me. "Look what he did."

"She's not me."

"I've seen you looking worse with a bunch of broken ribs."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm gonna turn on the motor," I said, getting tired of the argument. Then, I turned on the motor and sped off to the south end of the city. We went by Blackgate and approached a beach south of the city on the mainland.

I turned the motor off and let the momentum keep us moving forward toward the beach.

"Where are we?" Harley asked.

"South of Gotham City on the mainland," I said. "It's safer than the docks."

"Thank you kindly, Stranger," said Poison Ivy.

"What's your name anyway?" Harley asked.

"Meredith," I said. We pulled up to shore, hopped out, and pulled the boat in. I stepped on something sharp. "Ow!"

I sat in the grass, holding my foot as it had a piece of glass sticking out of it. Carefully, I pulled it out. The bleeding was slowing rather quickly and I covered my foot with my hand, sighing. _I wish this would work a little faster with everything else I'm feeling._

"Humanity loves to litter," said Poison Ivy bitterly.

Sighing, I got up and I started pushing the boat back out.

"Whoa where are you goin'?" Harley asked.

"I'm just gonna chill on the boat. I've had enough trouble in the city for tonight." I got in the boat with a grunt. My muscles were so sore and tender. I had to lie down for a moment.

"Before you go," said Poison Ivy. "What were you in for at Arkham?"

"Suicide, severe depression," I said as I gazed up to the sky while lying on my back.. "I attempted while I was in Blackgate for theft so they sent me to Arkham. I've gotten better since I left."

"Hmm."

"Wait a minute, I remember!" Harley exclaimed.

I sat up, concerned. "What?" Poison Ivy and I asked.

"You're the one that killed that creep Dr. Giovanni, aren't you? Meredith Storm?"

"Um, yeah?" I answered, cautiously.

"They love you over in the female ward. After I asked about your name being written wall on several walls, a bunch of 'em would not shut up after I asked. You're like a goddess of vengeance to them."

"Oh." I smiled softly. _Aww…_ "Well, it was a group effort, really, but I did orchestrate it."

"Who's Dr. Giovanni?" Poison Ivy asked.

"He liked to drug up the women and rape them in the female ward," I explained.

"She got a bunch of girls together and cut him to pieces while playing some opera in the background," said Harley.

"Mozart's Don Giovanni from Amadeus Arkham's record collection," I said with a smirk. "Too tempting to ignore."

Poison Ivy smirked. "Nice," she said.

"I thought so, too."

"But why did you cut him to pieces?"

"I wanted to leave a bloody mess and make him feel the agony we felt. The sensation of falling apart piece by piece by feelings you cannot silence."

"You're a real poet," said Harley. "They miss ya'."

"I hear the care has gotten a bit better since I left," I said.

"Eh, somewhat. Mostly more security. Some doctors are good, but can't get better if you don't wanna."

I nodded.

"Kill anyone else since?"

 _Eh…_ "Mostly random thugs that attack and try to mug me. My reputation is probably nothing compared to you two. I'm just a thief."

"Maybe compared to my reputation," said Poison Ivy, "but apparently you beat Harley's in the female ward."

"I guess… Damn."

There was a long pause. No one seemed to know what to say.

"Well, we all better part ways," said Poison Ivy after a while. "Best of luck, Meredith."

"To you both as well," I said. "Don't let the man get ya' down." I winked.

They chuckled.

"Never," said Poison Ivy.

"See ya' around," said Harley, waving.

I waved back and I turned the motor back on. As they headed off, I sped on back to the dock past Blackgate prison. As I approached the other side of the bay, I scanned for those men with flashlights and dogs. There wasn't anyone out in the woods that I could see or hear. It took me a little to find the dock, but I eventually found it. Lucyfer was sitting at the dock, possibly waiting for me. She was all wet and shivering next to my boots that also looked wet.

I turned off the motor and tied up the boat.

"I kicked your boots into the water because you had me worried," Lucyfer said without looking at me. "Then, I felt bad so I got in, and pulled them out. That water is fucking freezing by the way."

"Okay," I said as I climbed onto the dock. _So damn tired._

"Where the hell did you go?" She asked, not getting up. "There were authorities searching through the woods with dogs."

"Yeah, I left so I wouldn't get spotted." I stood on the dock, needing to stand for a bit after sitting for so long.

"Did you see who they were looking for?"

"Poison Ivy," I said, not exactly lying. "Ferried her across the bay."

"Oh," she said. "Who the hell is that?"

"Due to a freak accident, she can manipulate plants and has a poison kiss. Also, emits pheromones that will manipulate men and some women. Loves plants more than people. Radiant red hair and green eyes."

"Huh. Are you asylum buddies?"

"No. I never saw the high security people."

Lucyfer nodded. "Right. You said that before... can you sit down? You just standing there is freaking me out."

"Yeah." I sat down next to her, sticking my feet in the water. "You want my jacket? You look like you're about to freeze to death."

She looked at my feet in the water and back to me. "Yes, I would love the remnants of your ridiculous, body heat."

Smirking, I took off my jacket and held it out to her.

Lucyfer quickly took off her wet jacket and huddled in my jacket. "How can you act so nice to me after that fight?"

"Fresh air helps a lot," I said with a shrug.

"I guess. Jeez. You're making me feel even more like shit."

"Would you feel better if I pushed you in the water?"

"Don't even joke about that shit, Meredith."

I snickered.

We sat in silence for a good while. I gazed at the water waving my feet back and forth. "How's Mark?" I asked after a bit.

"Worrying his head off. Kept nagging me to go after you. Telling me that I was a fucking bitch and should kiss and make up with Ollie, too... I mostly got out of that basement so I didn't have to listen to him piss and moan anymore.

"Sure," I said with a shrug.

"I just had a fucking cat fight with you and I feel so much better with you than him right now. I mean aren't you mad?"

"During the fight I was angry, but I'm mostly scared that this whole thing will rip us apart. I'm afraid of sinking into dark depression I lived in before I met you guys... Hating myself for not fighting for the well-being of this group when I had the chance. I'm scared we'll get stuck here and never leave, going mad or dying horrible deaths."

"How can you be so sure that would happen after we massacre the Joker gang?"

"You grew up in this city, Lucyfer. Surely you've seen your fair share of lives gone wrong."

"Well why can't things go wrong for the Joker?"

"They do all the time."

"How?"

"Well whatever happened to him that made him into who he was for example? Batman shows up and ruins his evil plans all the time, beats the living hell out of him. I mean granted he loves the attention, but it's pretty shitty when you can't run around willy-nilly. His girlfriend sometimes leaves him and makes him jealous... I'm pretty damn sure he's going to get himself killed on his own terms."

"How can you be sure if he's so unpredictable?"

 _Should I tell her?..._ I groaned. "This is going nowhere. What matters is that we wait for Tim's vote and we don't pressure him."

"Fine."

I sighed and we sat quietly in bitter silence, not looking at each other.

"...I'm sorry I turned into a bitch earlier... I really like you, Kid. Maybe if I knew you when I was growing up, I wouldn't be such a shitty person."

I shook my head. "No. I was a bit of a snob when I was a kid. I liked books more than I liked people because people didn't like how quiet I was."

"Dude, I've always hated people. You sound awesome."

"You would've thought I was a prude."

"Well, you'd be my prude." Lucyfer bumped her arm against mine.

I shook my head and smirked, rubbing my eyes.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, looking at me.

"I'm tired as fuck and I hurt all over."

"I'm all that and kinda cold. Maybe Mark will quit being butthurt if we walk in together."

"One could only hope." I lifted my feet out of the water and got up.

She got up and picked up her jacket.

I pulled out the wet socks in my boots and put on the boots. The soles made squishing noises as I put my feet in. I didn't bother lacing them up and started walking up the steps with Lucyfer, one squishing step at a time. Her shoes were also squeaking with each step.

"Ugh, I almost want to rip out my eardrums right now," said Lucyfer, annoyed with the squeaks.

"Yep," I agreed.

We reached the top and walked over to the basement doors to get inside. I immediately kicked off my shoes and saw Mark sitting by Tim who had his eyes open.

Lucyfer kicked off her shoes and saw Tim, too. "Motherfucking Tim," she said, smirking.

"Did you apologize?" Mark patronizingly asked Lucyfer.

"Yeah, Dad. Get off my fucking case. The patient is awake."

Lucyfer and I walked over to Tim and Mark.

"Did she apologize?" Mark asked me.

"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "How are you doing, Tim?"

"Not great," said Tim. "I never had my arm broken before. Mark says everyone was fighting while I sleep. I hate that."

"We all do, Pal," I said with a nod.

"He also say that I am to decide what we do."

"We're divided between striking back at the Joker or just leaving Gotham so we don't have to deal with him any more."

"Why would we just leave?" Tim asked, confused.

"Because Meredith and Ollie are scared that the Joker will turn the tables on us," said Lucyfer, looking sideways at me.

"We're not the only enemies he's made," I said, focusing on Tim. "Worse people than us wanted him dead and have failed. I don't want to give him another opportunity to hurt us."

"Hmm," said Tim, considering this.

"Hell, maybe we could recruit some people into helping us," said Lucyfer with a shrug. "But I'm tired of that clown's shit and he almost killed you, Tim. He could've done so much worse."

"Whatever you decide is fine, Tim," I said, putting my hands up. "We've been arguing about this all night, but it can be resolved with majority rule."

We waited in silence as he lied there, thinking. "With all the things I have heard of this clown prince, I know beyond any doubt that he deserve to die. Let the Joker die."

I sighed.

"Looks like we're going to war, Meredith," said Lucyfer.

I looked at her, frowning deeply. "We're not fucking around with this. I want this planned to a T. No final words. No taunts. Just set up, set off, and we're gone. Professional and brutal. You got that?"

She chuckled and folded her arms. "I wouldn't have it any other way... Boss."

I blinked and felt my face get warm. "I'm not the boss."

"Okay, break it up you two," said Mark. "Pissing match is over. Last vote is in and I want to keep my testicles."

"Yeah, yeah, keep your balls on," said Lucyfer. "I'm just giving her shit since she says I can't give the Joker any."


	3. Chapter 3: To Kill a Clown

**CHAPTER THREE: TO KILL A CLOWN**

When I awoke the next day, I discovered that Mark and Lucyfer were gone. Tim and I remained in the cabin basement, resting and waiting. My leg hurt a lot less than it did yesterday. I hadn't looked at it yet, but I assumed that it was down to deep scars instead of bleeding, swiss cheese under all that gauze. My shoulders were definitely sore. I could feel fading bruises all over my body.

Tim on the other hand was horribly bruised and seemed very dazed. He would flinch any time there was a loud noise. Dark shadows under his eyes indicated that he had gotten little sleep all night.

Eventually, Lucyfer and Mark suddenly arrived with a white-coated man wearing a black bag on his head.

"Close the door," Lucyfer said to Mark.

"You close it, so I can tell him what's going on," said Mark in protest.

"Fine!" She hissed, closing the doors.

Mark pulled off the black bag, and I saw the doctor had a fine, gray beard and a head of gray hair. He looked at Tim and noticed me lying on the couch. "Who's the worst?" The doctor asked with a warm voice.

"That one," said Mark, pointing to Tim. Then, Mark pointed to me. "And she took a grenade to her leg, but I've stopped the bleeding for the most part."

"Well, I certainly have my work cut out for me," said the doctor, walking over to Tim.

Mark continued to discuss Tim's injuries using words of medical terminology that I could not understand.

Lucyfer kicked up the black bag on the ground and caught it in the air with one hand. She glanced over to me. "I'm hungry as fuck. How about you?"

I nodded.

"I'll bake a pizza." Tossing the black bag on the jacket rack, she reached into the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza. "You guys want some pizza?!" Lucyfer yelled over to Mark, Tim, and the doctor.

"I'm holding out for the good stuff," said Mark.

"...I'm fine," said the doctor. "He's going to need surgery for that skull."

"Okay." Mark closed up the hospital area with the plastic and prepped the area for surgery. "...Lucyfer where's the scalpel?"

"Goddammit," said Lucyfer digging in the kitchen drawers. "I use it for the pizza."

"What?!" Mark exclaimed.

"I keep forgetting to buy a pizza cutter, so I use the scalpel!"

"That's highly unsanitary!"

"I sterilized it every time I used it." Lucyfer chucked the scalpel over to the plastic. The scalpel bumped into the plastic and clanged on the floor.

Mark opened the plastic up and picked it up off the floor. He pointed at Lucyfer with the scalpel. "From now on, _medical_ equipment is restricted to _medical_ use!"

Lucyfer shrugged. "Whatever, _Mom_."

"And I'm gonna tell Helen that you keep calling me 'Mom'." He closed up the plastic.

"Do it!"

"I will!"

Lucyfer walked over to the plastic and winked at me. "Hey, Doc! Check his junk while you're in there. I think it turned into a mom-gina." She headed back over to the kitchen.

I snorted.

"Hardy har har," said Mark, likely rolling his eyes. "I'm still sore from you being a psycho bitch last night."

"I'm sorry you aren't man enough to handle my inner bitch."

"I don't think any man could handle that demon."

"Demon?! WHAT?!" Tim shouted, confused.

"It's okay, Tim!" I called over to Tim. _Must be thinking about the Demon, Ra's al Ghul…_ "There aren't any demons here! It's just an expression."

"Oh," he replied.

"Yeah, Tim, it's okay," said Mark, soothingly. "Lie back down and we're gonna make you feel better."

"Okay."

Lucyfer looked to me as she popped the frozen pizza in the oven. She thumbed over to the plastic room and mouthed "what?".

I shrugged and winced a little, feeling the pain in my shoulders.

"You need some painkillers?" She asked.

"I'll be fine," I said, shaking the pill bottle next to me. _Haven't taken any since I went to sleep last night, but the healing has taken a lot of the edge off... I definitely need a shower... a shower always makes me feel better..._

 _Should I stop Mark from letting the doctor see me? Maybe I should take a peek before the doctor takes a look and gets curious..._

Sighing, I got up and limped over to the bathroom.

"You need a crutch or something?" Lucyfer asked me as I passed through the medical area and the kitchen.

"I got it," I said with a grunt as I stepped through the bathroom threshold.

Closing the door behind me, I pulled off my shorts and sat on the toilet to peel back the first patch of blood-soaked gauze on my leg. It was nothing but a purple bruise and a scar. Carefully, I pulled back the rest of the gauze. The rest of the wounds were nothing but purple bruises and scars, too. Pulling off my shirt, I looked at the mirror. The acid burn on my right shoulder was a peeling, first degree burn. On my left shoulder, there was a small scar and purple bruise where Joker stabbed me. All the wounds from fighting the thugs were yellow bruises that were almost faded. Everything was reduced to soreness, minor bruises, and a first degree burn.

 _Well, shit..._

I stared at the mirror, kind of surprised at how fast these devastating wounds healed.

 _These sort of wounds kill people or take weeks or even months to heal into scars... The average person hit by a grenade would be lucky to walk again... These wounds weren't the typical scratches that healed in ten minutes, but I suppose my body had many hours to heal them to this point._

 _God... what am I going to tell the others? They all know how bad my wounds were last night. Maybe I should just tell them?..._

I sighed. _Might as well take a shower and think about it._

Removing any remaining garments, I entered the shower and considered my options carefully.

 _Well, should I just tell them the truth? Why shouldn't I?_

 _Lucyfer might try to abuse the fuck out of it. I could just hear her now. "You're fucking immortal?! Why the fuck you lying around when you're a fucking god?"_

 _I wouldn't want them to treat me any less than they do now... It's awesome, but at the same time... I can't risk this getting out... Other people might try to use this ability to their own advantage... maybe even experiment on me... try to replicate me for own their special armies..._

 _Maybe I could tell Mark... possibly even Tim and Ollie... but Lucyfer is a loose fucking cannon with that mouth... I absolutely cannot tell her... The last two heists went so horribly wrong, probably because of her spreading rumors... perhaps she told the same source about her desire to steal the key to Gotham City... It was on her bucket list... I don't know for sure... but I'm not about to start another fight with her over it... I'm sure as soon as we get out of this city that things will get better for us. This place has a higher percentage of bad luck than most places... That has been taking its toll..._

 _I could tell them that Poison Ivy helped heal me in gratitude for ferrying her across the bay?..._

 _Yes!... That could work... Plants may have a lot of poisonous qualities, but they also provide a lot of medicine. I'm sure even Ollie would buy that lie._

Relieved, I hummed a little in the shower and cleaned off any dirt or leftover blood.

 _If anyone wanted to analyze this mysterious, healing plant; I could say it washed away while in the shower. "I wasn't thinking, Guys. I'm sorry. Got hit in the head a lot yesterday."_

I smirked. _Excellent... and let's make sure that doctor doesn't see shit._

After I stepped out and put my short clothes back on, I took the bloodied gauze pieces and threw them in the trash.

I peered out the door to see Mark and the Doctor were still working. Lucyfer scrutinized me as I peeped out.

Meeting her gaze, I waved her over to me. _Make her feel like I still trust her._

She raised her brows and strolled over to the bathroom

I let Lucyfer come in the bathroom.

"What?" She asked.

I closed the door behind her. "Don't freak out. I don't want that black-bag doctor to hear," I murmured. Then, I stepped back for her to look at my leg.

Lucyfer's mouth dropped and she covered it quickly. She made a muffled noise behind her hands. "What the fuck?" She muttered to me.

I inhaled and put my hands together. "So, I didn't mention this because I was still mad last night... but Poison Ivy-the plant lady-gave me some weird salve to use for my wounds because she was grateful for being ferried across the bay. I went to take a look when I took my shower and I saw that it was almost completely healed."

Lucyfer stared at me. "Then why the fuck do we have a doctor? Let's give Tim this shit! Hell, let's pass it around and give it to Ollie so she can replicate it!"

"She kept the vial after I put it on," I said with a shrug.

"Do you know where she hid out?"

I frowned. _Ohh shit... why didn't I think of that question..._ "No, and no, we're not stealing from Poison Ivy. We're already going to fucking war with the Joker and burned bridges with the Penguin. I'm not gonna piss her off, too."

"Well, could we buy some from her!" Lucyfer suggested, throwing her arms up.

"Not if she knows you're out to kill Harley Quinn," I said, shaking my head.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"They're friends that occasionally team up."

Lucyfer grimaced. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." I nodded.

She face-palmed. "Goddamn... well, we're gonna put this to a vote again... since you got such a hard-on for democracy."

"Fine, but leave the doctor out of this conversation," I insisted.

"He's a professional."

"I don't care. He's not one of us."

Lucyfer folded her arms. "Fine. Hide those legs under a blanket, and I'll get him out the door after he's through fixing Tim."

She opened the door, and I followed her out. After picking up a few pieces of pizza, I sat down on the couch and covered my legs with a blanket.

After an hour or so, the doctor and Mark eventually came out, removing their medical masks.

"You do good work for an... entrepreneur," said the doctor.

"Thanks," said Lucyfer before she put a black bag on the doctor's head.

"Don't I have one more patient?" The doctor asked from inside the bag. He did not seem fazed by the bag. _Must be a regular enough thing for him._

"Yeah, Lucyfer," said Mark, touching the black bag. "Meredith needs care, too."

Lucyfer kept the bag down. "Nah, I just checked. She's healing just fine, ask her."

"Yeah," I agreed with a nod.

"Let's go to the car, Doc," said Lucyfer. "I'll grab you a water on the way out."

"Thank you," said the doctor.

Mark approached me as Lucyfer walked out with a water. "Meredith?"

"She'll explain on the ride back," I replied. "Does Tim need any after care?"

He shook his head and frowned to himself. "Just rest. If he wakes up suddenly, be there for him. Keep him calm."

"Okay."

"Mark! Get the door!" called Lucyfer.

Mark rolled his eyes and strode over to the door. "Coming!" Mark closed the doors behind him.

Sighing, I waited on the couch, waiting for them to return or for Tim to wake up. _Ollie's been a helpful vote so far. I better tell her about the Poison Ivy incident._

I approached the laptop and called up Ollie.

"Oh, Meredith?" said Ollie, surprised to see me calling. "What's going on?" She appeared to be playing some sort of video game with a controller in her hands.

"We're gonna have another vote I think," I said.

"Uungh! What's it about this time?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

I caught her up with the Poison Ivy affair.

"...Lucyfer thinks she can just buy this shit from Poison Ivy?" Ollie asked with a raised brow.

"Yep," I confirmed.

"God-fucking-dammit. Granted, you are clearly on Ivy's good side, but I bet that vial is so small because it's so rare. She's not going to want to hand it off to humans willy-nilly. She'll probably tell you so and turn you away if you're lucky... You still got the bandages, right?"

"They're in the bathroom trash."

Ollie nodded. "Uh-huh. Dig 'em out, and we'll have them analyzed for whatever this super salve is. Probably check your blood, too..." She paused what she was doing and looked at me. "Is _he_ supposed to be up?"

I looked around and saw Tim was standing behind me. His head was completely wrapped in bandages. "Hi, Tim," I said cautiously. "You okay?"

"I make coffee?" He asked in some sort of Middle Eastern or South Asian accent. _Indian, maybe?_

"Um... sure," I said, frowning.

"I make coffee," he said with a smile and a bow of his head. Tim walked over to the kitchen.

I looked back over to Ollie who was watching intently. She looked about as startled as I felt. "Definitely some severe brain damage," she muttered. "Bag up your bandages and keep an eye on him."

"I'm gonna set you in the kitchen," I said quietly as I moved the laptop over to the counter. Ollie had a full view of Tim who was humming merrily to himself as he crushed up some coffee beans in a bowl.

I got a sandwich bag and headed to the bathroom to bag the bandages.

"Allo, Ollie," said Tim in the kitchen.

"Hey," said Ollie nonchalantly.

"We need best beans. These beans no good, Ollie, but I make bettar."

I returned to the kitchen. "All right," I said to Ollie. "I'll be visiting you in the near future with these, Ollie."

"Meredit, what in bag?" Tim asked, noticing the bag in my hand.

"She ran into magic plant lady with healing salve," said Ollie, simplifying her words. "I want to analyze what's left with my computer."

Tim nodded. "O.K. Very cool, Ollie."

"Lucyfer is going to want to go after said plant lady for the salve," I said. "That's bad."

"...Plant lady have coffee plants?"

I shook my head. "I doubt it. Plant lady mostly have deadly and dangerous plants. Poison. I got very lucky."

Tim frowned. "O.K. We tell Lucyfer no. No more enemies. Too much head pain."

"Maybe you should have some water and stay hydrated," suggested Ollie.

"Yes, yes, water make coffee."

I pulled out a bottle of water from the fridge and handed him one. "Here."

"Ah, thank you, Meredit!" He drank the water. "Cold. Coffee must be hot." He started looking for spices and stuff in the kitchen. "Not much ingredient! How make coffee with not much ingredient?!"

"Well, make do for now," said Ollie. "We'll eventually find you some better ingredients. Some imported goods perhaps?"

"Very good. Make it soon."

"Go ahead and tell Ollie what you need," I said. "She'll go shopping online for you."

"Yes! You are smart, Meredit! Ollie, make list."

"Okay," said Ollie, pulling out a notepad. "Tell me what you want."

Tim started rattling off ingredients, and I could not understand him at all.

Ollie stared at him. "Jesus. I might have to pull out my translator for this. Say it again but slower. What's your base language anyway?"

"Punjabi."

Ollie typed into her computer. "Okay, let me pull up this program so I can understand better. Your accent is thick as hell."

"O.K."

"Why are you talking like that anyway?"

"I am from Pahkeestahn," said Tim.

Ollie made a face. "Whuh? Pahkeestahn?"

" _Pakistan_ ," I said, for Ollie.

"Ohh."

"Yes. Pahkeestahn," insisted Tim. "My name is Farid Nejem. I sell excellent coffee."

"Can I keep calling you Tim?" Ollie asked.

"My name is Farid Nejem."

"I'm sorry. We just always called you Tim."

He sighed. "If you insist."

"Maybe you're stuck in one of your old identities, right now?" I suggested. "I mean you did suffer a pretty bad head, injury recently. That's why your head's wrapped up."

"Huh?" Tim touched his wrappings on his head. "That my turban. I wear because I'm Sikh. Old tradition."

"Wait a minute, aren't Sikh supposed to let their hair grow?" Ollie asked. "You're pretty bald last time I checked."

Tim pouted. "I am bald on my head. What you want from me?"

Ollie shook her head. "Just give me your ingredients so I can go shopping."

He started rattling off the ingredients again for Ollie. Then, I watched as he continued to grind beans and spices together in that bowl. After he seemed satisfied with it, he started to makeshift a way to brew it instead of using the coffee maker. He hummed to himself and the kitchen reeked of coffee.

Eventually Lucyfer and Tim turned home as Tim was pouring me a cup of coffee.

"Holy shit," said Mark as he stared at the mess in the kitchen.

"I make coffee," said Tim, proudly in his Punjabi accent.

Lucyfer and Mark looked to me.

I shrugged and picked up the cup of coffee. "I think he's reverted to some former identity as a Pakistani coffee-maker." I drank the coffee carefully. The first sip immediately fired up my brain and I stared out. "Damn. That's not bad." I drank more.

"Well, hey, let me try," said Lucyfer.

I handed her my cup and she tried it.

"Fuck," she said, staring at the cup. "What the fuck did you put in there, Tim? Cocaine?"

"Farid," corrected Tim.

"What's a Farid?" Lucyfer asked.

"My name. Farid."

"Yeah, he's going by Farid now," I said. "English is broken, and his first language is Punjabi.

"Coffee?" Tim handed Mark a cup.

"And his primary focus is making an awesome cup of coffee," I added.

Tim grimaced. "Bah! Wait until I get real ingredient!"

"Well, do you feel like voting, Tim-er-Farid?" Lucyfer asked.

"For what?"

"The issue of Poison Ivy."

"Plant lady," I explained.

"Oh," said Tim. "My vote no."

"No?" Lucyfer asked, annoyed. "Seriously?"

"I'm a no, too," said Ollie on the laptop. "We're already tangling with the Joker. We're not messing with Poison Ivy, too. Just give me time to analyze Meredith's bandages to clarify the composition of the salve."

"It would be better if we didn't have to use it at all," I said, folding my arms. "She's also in league with Harley Quinn, who we're going to try to murder with the rest of the Joker gang. 3-2, Lucyfer."

"4-1 actually," said Mark, taking a sip of the coffee. He blinked, amazed by the power of it. "But I do want Ollie to analyze those bandages."

Lucyfer sighed. "Whatever. Go head over to Ollie's right now while I discuss advertising with Ollie. Mark, you watch over our new… coffee-maker over there." Lucyfer handed me the keys and took the laptop from the kitchen.

I took my bandages and headed over to Ollie's, knocking on her back door.

"Come in," I heard her voice on the intercom.

I opened the door as she buzzed me through.

Ollie waved me over to the couch as she sat at her computer, typing away. "Give me a sec."

I sat down and waited, sighing as I waited for the moment to tell her the truth.

"Okay," she spun in her chair and faced me. "Let's take a look at those."

"Can we talk for a sec, Ollie?" I asked.

"What's up?" She rolled her chair across the tile and sat in front of me.

I rubbed my temple. "I lied about Poison Ivy's salve."

Ollie studied me. "Because of Lucyfer?"

"I hate to say it, but the last two heists have been an absolute hell. The last thing I need is for the truth about me to get out."

She leaned back. "Okay. What's the truth, then? Are you a mutant or something?"

"I guess?" I shrugged. "I just know that my body would always heal itself no matter how hard I tried to kill myself... but before the first suicide attempt, I would heal normal... Maybe it's a curse?" I shrugged.

Ollie rolled her neck. "Well whatever it is, you have every right to lie to Lucyfer right now... She's been such a bitch lately... Have you ever had your blood tested?"

"They did at the hospital and the asylum, but they didn't notice anything different."

"Hmm, I'll just have to conduct a few tests of my own." She held out her hand for the bandage bag, and I handed it to her. "In the meantime, your secret is safe with me. If anyone tries to bust down my door, the house blows up so they won't have time to beat it out of me."

I winced. "No offense, Ollie, but that's pretty extreme."

"But effective," said Ollie as she adjusted her glasses. Then, she rolled over to a desk with a lot of mailing items like boxes, envelopes, stamps, bubble-wrap, tape, etc.. Ollie put the bandage bag in a box, and then she rolled into the bathroom.

"Come in here," she called to me.

I walked over to the bathroom and saw Ollie holding a tray with a needle connected to a tube ready to drain in vials.

 _No. Ugh, no. I hate having my blood drawn._ "Ugh," I groaned. "Can I just cut myself open and bleed into a beaker?"

Ollie grimaced. "Nonsense. This is more sanitary and clean." She set down the tray on the counter. "Sit in my chair."

Reluctantly, I sat down.

"How can you hate needles if you got that tattoo?"

"It's little pokes here and there. My veins or arteries, whatever you draw from tend to hide so I get jabbed repeatedly."

"I see a good one in that arm right now." Ollie tied a rubber tie around my arm and put gloves on.

"How do you even know how do this?" I asked.

"I ordered a book from the internet. Don't worry, I've done this on myself before."

I groaned and stared at the yellow ceiling.

"Just think of a desert." Ollie started tapping on the spot she was seeing.

"A desert?"

"Yeah. Describe it to me."

I furrowed my brow. "Um... soft, yellow sand going on for miles and miles. Nothing alive as far as the eye can see... Just dark mountains in the distance."

"Okay, now imagine a cube in the desert."

"A cube? That's odd."

"Just imagine it," Ollie insisted.

"Um, it's a gigantic obsidian cube floating in the sky. It's rotating on one point. Intricately carved... ancient... Inside the cube is a labyrinth of tombs, treasure holds, and traps."

"Wow... that's pretty gnarly." She stuck me in the arm.

I winced and saw the blood run through the tube and into the vial. _Holy shit... she got it in one try..._

"There's also a ladder," Ollie continued.

"...It's... a golden ladder lying in the sand. The sand has been wearing it away a bit."

"And there's a horse…"

I frowned. "How long does this keep going?"

"That's the last part."

"Um... It's lost and confused... not used to the desert at all... He trips and rolls down a hill."

Ollie snorted. "What does he look like?"

"White horse, black hair. Big and strong... just lost in this strange environment. A storm is coming and I'm a little worried for it."

"This is a perception thing I read online. The desert is supposed to be your life. The cube is you. The ladder is your friends. The horse is your lover."

I sighed. "Well shit. I feel like a self-centered asshole."

Ollie chuckled. "Nah, it's all good. You probably feel alien... a little different. I had a six-sided die sitting in a square of a rickety ladder on the ground. It's a flat desert of black sand and rock during a sandstorm. A red horse picks the dice up with its tongue and spits it out. The dice lands on one." She pulled out the needle and put a bandage on the puncture.

I automatically put my hand on the bandage to give it pressure.

"Aren't you asexual?" I asked.

Ollie marked the vials and closed them up. "Yeah, but I'm not _aromantic_. I'm not about sexual desire, but I can really like a person to the point of wanting to be with them all the time. That bit with a horse was thought of in utter disgust... probably meaning that I imagine my lover to be wanting a little more than I would and it would gross me out."

"Oh."

She smirked. "And you imagine your lover to be confused as hell in your life… That's funny shit."

"I'm hard to understand sometimes," I said with a shrug.

"Ditto, or I'm too honest and they can't handle it. Stand up."

I got up and she sat down. After I walked out, Ollie rolled over to the mailing desk and put the vials in the box. She closed up the box and taped it up quickly like she had done it a million times before.

"I'll send this off to S.T.A.R. labs," she said turning back to me. "It'll be completely anonymous. And... since you are feeling good and free... I want you to get that speaker back from GCPD evidence sometime soon... or rather _Lucyfer_ wants it back for research."

I sighed. "Okay..."

"For what it's worth, it's a pretty badass piece of equipment. Might be able to sell it for a pretty price online."

I nodded.

"In the meantime, I would appreciate it if you sung your songs into that mic over there." Ollie stood up and unveiled a large microphone in front of a computer. Then, she typed into the computer and started an audio program. "...Okay. Hit the spacebar to stop and go."

"Oh... All right," I said, a little nervous.

"Pretend I'm not even here." She stepped back over to her computer, sat down, and started typing rapidly. "Explain instrumentation and stuff as you see fit."

I walked over to the mic and sighed. Then, I worked on singing and explaining every song that I could remember. I started to forget Ollie was there as I focused on my project.

As I finished the last song, I turned to Ollie. She wasn't typing anymore.

"That was a lot of songs," she commented.

"Yep," I said with a shrug. "It's okay if you guys can't do it."

Ollie waved dismissively. "It'll just take time and a lot of enjoyment."

"Okay," I said with a nod. "Do you have information on breaking into the GCPD?"

"Yep. It all starts with you walking in the front door."

"Bold choice," I commented.

"My source says you can get into the ventilation through the women's bathroom..."

I arrived at the GCPD building and saw a front desk with a young, uniformed cop sitting there. His hair was short and brown, but you could tell it was naturally curly. "Can I help you?" He asked, smiling a bit.

"Hi," I said with a soft smile. "I need to report a robbery, but first-is there a restroom I can use? I'm sorry. I just had to run out the door and sometimes I just don't think."

"Sure. Go on up a floor and there should be the women's on the left... Desk sergeant will send you to a cop that will help you find the guy... Did the robber hurt ya?" He gestured to my face, concerned.

I touched my face, feeling a faded bruise. "Oh no, that was just some loser."

"Did you hit him back?" The cop asked.

"Oh yeah," I said, blushing.

He smiled. "Good. I really hate it when nice girls get smacked around by losers."

"Ugh. Me too. It's why I box." I noticed his name tag said Beckett.

"I believe it. You got the shoulders."

"Oh?" _...Are my shoulders ridiculously blocky or something?_

"That's a good thing," Beckett quickly added. "Makes you a real woman."

 _Oh... He is definitely coming on to me._ I felt myself turn red, and I chuckled uncomfortably. "Um, pardon me." I headed up the stairs.

"Ugh, idiot," Beckett muttered to himself.

"What?" I asked.

"Uh, nothing, just looking at a funny email. Just uh right upstairs..."

Sighing, I walked back over to the desk. "I'm not good at taking compliments on my appearance," I explained. "I'm more... accustomed to deflecting nasty comments. I think you were being nice... I just uh... I'm not good at that."

"Well... whatever bad things they said about you they were wrong," said Beckett.

I stared at Beckett, absolutely stunned. _You literally know nothing about me, Dude. I am a thief and a lunatic on the run. I'm about to steal a piece of evidence._ "Okay then," I said. "That was nice of you. I'm gonna go." I kept walking upstairs, feeling very uncomfortable in my skin.

After I entered the main area with all the cops, I immediately walked over to the bathroom. I checked the stalls and approached the handicap stall with a covered vent duct in the middle of the wall. It blew out lukewarm air as it sat above the toilet paper dispenser.

After putting on my ski mask and gloves, I firmly pulled the loose, vent cover off. Setting it on the dispenser, I climbed inside. Once inside, I pulled the cover back on and continued along the ventilation towards the elevator shaft. I reached the bottom floor and found the evidence storage. It was currently dark and unoccupied. There were many shelves in this vast room. The only light source came from the main door labeled "Evidence".

I pulled the tracking screen from my pocket and looked to see where the speaker was in proximity to me. It was somewhere in the middle or far corner of the room from what I could tell. After I put the tracker in my pocket, I took off the vent cover and set it on top of a shelf in front of me. I crawled over it on top of the shelf and hopped down onto the floor.

Thinking I heard something, I stood quietly and listened to the sounds of the room. There was only air blowing in from the vents and a slight electrical hum. I continued following my tracker toward the middle of the room. It was locked with a combination padlock. I picked it open with ease, using a trick Lucyfer taught me. When it opened up, I found the speaker in its case.

Quietly, I pulled out the case when I heard a jingling of keys. Quickly, I closed the locker and scurried over to a dark corner with the case beside me.

Someone unlocked the door and opened it up. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them flipping a light switch. The room remained dark.

"Huh, weird," commented the cop.

 _Indeed. That certainly wasn't my doing._

I heard a click and saw the beam of a flashlight suddenly illuminate the room. He walked over to the shelf I was hiding behind and opened up a locker. It was then I noticed a silhouette perched on shelf above me. The person was somewhat smaller and looking down at me.

The cop whistled a tune and closed up the locker again. His light flashed upon the silhouette for a moment as he turned around. The silhouette was Robin.

 _Please leave me alone... I am not in the mood._

As soon as the cop exited the room, Robin leapt down. "That's evidence."

"And you're what?" I asked. "The evidence police? Clearly, we're both here to take something for one reason or another, so let's call a truce."

"I'm not a criminal."

"Says you. Now get out of my way."

"Sorry, can't let you do that."

I set down the speaker. "Fine. Let's dance, Birdboy."

We held up our fists. I waited for him to lunge at me. When he did, I tased him.

"Argh!" Robin shouted as he hit the ground.

I picked the speaker back up and tased him again.

Robin shouted in pain. "Not... fair..." he said with a tight voice.

"I didn't realize criminals were supposed to play fair," I commented as I put the taser away. "Oh." I picked off a device on his belt. It looked like the grappling gun these guys were always using. "I'm taking this because you wasted my time."

I headed back over to the vent I entered in and used the grappling gun to pull myself up. Once I reached the elevator shaft, I used the gun again to grapple up the shaft to the main floor level. Carefully, I pried open the doors and peered inside. No one out there. I stepped out, pulled off my mask and gloves, and just walked towards the door.

"Whoa. What's that you got there?" Beckett asked, confused.

"Turns out you guys recovered what was stolen from me," I said with a smile as I looked back to him. "The thief is still out there, but I'm just glad I got this speaker back. It was expensive."

"That's awesome. I'm glad we could help you out."

"Totally. But uh, see ya' around?"

"That would be awesome."

Suddenly, the doors were opened and Commissioner Gordon walked in with several officers. Reporters were around him, shouting, "Commissioner! Commissioner!"

Bowing my head, I quickly stepped back out of the way, hoping they didn't notice who I was.

"Commissioner, what progress have you made on finding the Drifter gang?" Vicki Vale asked, stepping ahead of Commissioner Gordon.

"The police are doing everything they can to take these criminals down," said Commissioner Gordon flatly.

Keeping my head down, I casually pushed my way past some reporters as they kept talking. "S'cuse me. Sorry."

I walked down the steps and headed back towards the jeep, taking a deep breath.

"Hey, where you goin' with that?" A guy with a Brooklyn accent asked.

I looked back and saw it was stocky Detective Harvey Bullock who had just pulled up in his car.

 _That hardass gave me such a rough time back when I was a homeless pickpocket! Oh I loathe this son of a bitch._

"Storm?" He asked, shocked to see me.

 _If I get in the jeep, it's compromised. If I run by foot in the middle of the day carrying a 50 lb speaker, I probably won't get far... Wild goose chase and then get back in the jeep?_

I ran across the street and darted between two buildings.

"Stop, Police!" Bullock shouted at me.

Some cops started chasing after me and I heard sirens going off. _Man, I wish I could wear the speaker bag like a backpack... so bulky and heavy!_

A police car pulled up in front of me and Bullock stepped out with his gun. "You're surrounded, Storm!"

 _Oh boy._

I held up the grappling gun and fired it to the building behind him. A scream escaped me as the gun yanked me off the ground. It sent me flying hundreds feet in the air and dropped me on top of the building.

Then, I landed on the rooftop on my back with the speaker on my abdomen. My heart was beating rapidly and I felt a ton of adrenaline running through me. I laid there for a moment, very dazed from that experience.

A pigeon suddenly landed on the speaker and peered down at me. It cooed slightly. _Almost as if to say, "whoa, what are you doing up here?"_

Groaning, I sat up and the pigeon flew away. Helicopters were coming. _I'm not out of the woods yet._

I stood back up and took a deep breath. Grappling from building to building, I moved until I was out of the area. As the helicopters started getting too close, I ducked down on a shadowy fire escape.

I called up Ollie and sat down.

"You're a slick motherfucker, Meredith," Ollie said. "I saw you just walk by on a reporter's camera, and they're raving about it on the news now. Who noticed you?"

"Bullock," I said bitterly as I sat at the bottom of the fire escape. "He's the one that put me in Blackgate."

"Ugh. Hate that guy... also, can you fly now?"

"No, I stole this cool, grappling gun while I was in evidence. No joking. I love this thing... but uh, I left the jeep by the GCPD and there's no way in hell that I'm going all the way back there when they're looking for me. Do you have a contact that can help me out here?"

She considered. "Hmm... I suppose I know a guy in the Diamond District that owes me a favor. There's a bench around the corner from where you are. I'll have Isaac pick you up in no less than ten minutes around the corner."

"Okay. Thanks, Ollie."

"No prob. Also, any idea where that grappling gun came from?"

"I ran into Robin in the evidence room," I said with a smirk. "Tased him and stole it from him."

"Nice," Ollie applauded. "You might want to drop it though."

"Really?

"Yeah, all that expensive technology those Capes use must have tracking devices in them. At least, that's what I would do with all my stuff."

"Okay then." I chucked it across the alley. It clattered on the ground. "Can we get something like that made? It was so cool, Ollie."

"I'll look into it. Talk to you later." She hung up.

I sighed and watched a police helicopter fly by, looking around for me.

Eventually, Isaac arrived with the brown jeep. He was a stout young man with stringy blonde hair and thick rimmed glasses. "You Mary?" He asked, glancing around.

"Are you Isaac?" I asked.

"Yeah, get in."

I put the speaker in the back and hopped into the passenger seat next to him.

He drove off quickly and didn't say a word the whole way. Then, Isaac pulled up to a pawn shop in the Diamond District. "I'm sure you can take it from here," he said flatly as he got out.

"Thanks, Dude," I said as I got out through the passenger window.

"Yep." Isaac walked back into the pawn shop without another word.

I shrugged and got into the driver's side of the jeep. Then, I headed back to Ollie's with the speaker.

"Nice," said Ollie as I entered with the speaker. She was sitting at her computer watching me.

I set the speaker down. "What's the verdict on the press?" I asked.

"You're a lunatic thief with some serious moxie," said Ollie turning back to her computer. "The Drifter gang is armed and extremely dangerous. They can't identify Mark or Tim... just you and Lucyfer, especially since Lucyfer was a bassist of a popular metal band. Jack Ryder's talking about you right now actually." Ollie flipped a switch and typed at her computer.

"-She was in the asylum for attempted suicide and is a manic depressive," said Jack Ryder. "She murdered her designated doctor and ran away... presumably joining up with this Drifter gang led by Lucyfer from R.I.P. Dreams-"

Ollie switched it off and looked at some sort of chat link. She rolled her eyes. "Lucyfer says, 'it would be so cool if you called the radio station'."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm not that crazy."

"That's what I was thinking, too," said Ollie, shaking her head as she typed a reply.

I looked at the screen and notice that Ollie's screenname was _theAdvocate_ while Lucyfer's was _theDevil_.

"The Devil's Advocate," I commented. "That's clever."

"I thought so, too," said Ollie.

 _ **theDevil**_ _: it would be so cool if meredith called up ryder right now! XD_

 _ **theAdvocate**_ _: She and I are rolling our eyes right now._

 _ **theDevil**_ _: fun-haters :C_

 _ **theAdvocate**_ _: If YOU want to do it, I'm not stopping you. I will however judge you ... a lot... especially if you mention our plan to kill the joker. if anyone suspects anything, it will blow up in our faces AGAIN._

 _ **theDevil**_ _: fucking hell advocate! i have been fucking careful. i have no idea how the joker found out about that last time._

 _ **theAdvocate**_ _: I know. I'm just paranoid after last time. You all got pretty_ _ **fucked up, and Tim might have permanent brain damage. I mean, wow.**_

 _ **theDevil**_ _: It was NOT my fault. Joker just showed up and shot me in the middle of my riff!_

 _ **theAdvocate**_ _: It just amazes me that you want to draw more attention after all that._

 _ **theDevil**_ _: Well, forgive me if I wanted to lighten the mood and raise the morale after that shit night. The public only knows that we stole the key... and stole back our speaker. They don't even know that the key is horribly damaged._

 _ **theDevil**_ _: just forget it._

Ollie and I sighed simultaneously.

"I suppose she has a point," I commented. "We're all feeling it after that heist."

"So, you want to call up Jack Ryder and say hi?" Ollie asked, with a raised brow.

"I don't know about that, but we ought to do something to cheer up and feel better about ourselves as a gang."

"But what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but let me know on that grappling gun. Hell, maybe even some heat vision glasses or something."

"Sure." Ollie shrugged.

"Thanks."

"No problem… and are you planning on telling anyone else about _your_ condition?"

I folded my arms. "I'm debating… I don't know. I didn't really want to tell anyone about it. If it ever got out, I would be a subject of experimentation. Some people are absolutely nuts about finding out the secret to immortality and creating super-soldiers. You know?"

Ollie nodded. "Sure. Just try not to set off grenades in your pocket again."

I chuckled. "Yeah."

"By the way, how's the psychology going in your head?"

My smile faded a bit. "Um, fine. I mean it's been stressful lately, but being with you guys has made a lot of difference for me. I feel like I can actually make it and not be a burden to people… It never completely goes away, but it's definitely better than before."

"That's good." Her thoughts seemed to go elsewhere for a moment.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"As long as I don't ever have to leave, I'm fine," said Ollie flatly.

"When did it start?" I asked.

Ollie considered. "Oh… sometime after my father died. I mean, I've always been a homebody, but I just started going out less and less. Then, I didn't leave my apartment unless I absolutely had to. Once I figured out ways to get things delivered, I pretty much stopped going altogether. There wasn't much point. I started to realize I had a problem after I refused to go to my aunt's funeral. She wasn't just any aunt either. It was my favorite aunt who was practically a mother to me… Got help and started exercising my ability to leave my home. Then, my landlord didn't renew my contract and told me I had to leave. Couldn't cope. Barricaded the door and got dragged out against my will. Then, Scarecrow exploited the hell out of that fear. I couldn't leave my cell without pissing myself and having an anxiety attack… You know the rest. Dr. Whistler tried to help… My partnership with Lucyfer was a saving grace."

"What made you think about it today?" I asked.

Ollie sighed and started packing her pipe. "It… it's nothing. Just a resonance of that argument with Lucyfer."

"Okay," I said, unsure.

"You've had a long day though. You go home."

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah... Just need some time to think." She lit up her pipe.

"Okay. See you later, Ollie."

"See ya', Meredith." She blew a puff of smoke out her nose.

I walked out the door and drove back home with the radio off. The only sound was the wind blowing by. _I wish I knew how to help her feel better... I wish I knew what to do… How can I help us all in these shaky times?..._

 _Maybe the only thing for it is time itself… time to heal and otherwise rejuvenate…_

I let my mind go blank as I drove the rest of the way home.

As I entered the basement, I heard Lucyfer talking. "...Ma, it's too risky with all the shit that's been going down lately... They know it's me, so they might be watching you guys in case I swing by. We'd love to come over, but we're all feeling paranoid and worn to the bone right now. Plus, one of us is having multiple personality problems after the brain damage he got…" Lucyfer was sitting at the table, and she waved to me. There was a heavy fatigue in her eyes.

On the couch, Mark was sitting next to Tim who now had sunglasses and a long stick like he was blind. They were watching the weather report. Weather was going to be a high of 88F and low of 52F tomorrow.

"Hey, Meredith. This is Sato," said Mark, indicating to Tim. "He's a blind, Japanese guy who is very cranky."

Tim/Sato muttered something under his breath in Japanese.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu," I said, politely.

"Ohayogozaimasu, Meredith-san," said Tim/Sato with a slightly deeper voice than usual. He bowed his head in my direction. "You speak Japanese?"

"I only know a couple of random words. Sorry."

"Better some than none." He scathed towards Mark.

"What does Ohayo-whatever mean?" Mark asked, frowning.

" _Ohayogozaimasu_. It's a formal way of saying hello," I explained. "The informal way is _ohayo_."

"Ohio?"

"Close enough."

"Well what's _konichiwa_ , then?"

"Good morning-I think," I said.

"Hai," said Tim/Sato.

Mark looked to Tim and then to me.

" _Hai_ means yes," I explained. " _Sayonara_ is goodbye. _Onee-san_ is big sister. _Kawaii_ means cute. Um… _shi_ means four and also is the word for death… so it's an unlucky number. I mostly know these things from some Japanese T.V. shows I've seen over the years."

"Fine, Ma," said Lucyfer. "Fine!" She closed her phone and flung it across the room. Then, she laid her head on the table, defeated.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"We're going to meet my mom and dad at my cousin's tonight," Lucyfer said with her face buried in the table.

"Your cousin?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, he has a more secure place away from cops. Hell, the guy hates cops about as much as I hate clowns."

"Wow," I said.

Lucyfer turned her face to the side so we could hear her better. "Yeah… his criminal parents were shot right in front of him because they wouldn't give themselves up. It's too bad they're dead. I probably would've gotten along with them better than my own parents… Bryce is practically my brother. We just have our own ideas about how to spend our time."

"So why are you so bummed about meeting up with the family?" Mark asked.

"I just want to focus on killing this clown," moaned Lucyfer. "I'd like to heal my wounds and maybe just maybe enjoy myself… But fuck it, Ma wants to meet at Bryce's tonight. Dress the way you feel like it because I do not care."

"Hmm," said Tim/Sato, shaking his head. "Back in my country, elders were to be respected.

"That's hilarious," said Lucyfer, "because most elders I know don't deserve my respect. Plus, Mark looks more Japanese than you."

"I'm actually half-Korean, but I guess I see your point," said Mark.

Tim/Sato scowled. "Korean? Bah." He muttered to himself in Japanese.

Mark rolled his eyes.

"How long are we going to cater to this multiple personality disorder?" Lucyfer asked, annoyed.

"I think these days it's called Dissociative Identity Disorder," I commented as I walked over to her. "We just gotta keep catering to it. Otherwise, the distress might make him do something drastic and make more personalities pop out. The general idea is for him to come to terms and change personalities less and less."

"Thank you, Dr. Storm," said Lucyfer, resting her cheek on the table.

"We all need to do something fun after this," I said.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but we're all so mopey. We need something to cheer us up and feel better about life."

"We could plan a vacation!" Mark said excitedly, standing up. "Just have fun for a week or two after we leave Gotham."

"But where do we go?" Lucyfer asked.

"Um… well, you and Tim have seen most of the world, where should we go?"

"I have seen nothing," insisted Tim/Sato. "I'm blind."

Lucyfer sat up and thought about it. She sighed through her nose. "Um… how do we feel about Germany?"

"I'm from Germany," said Tim with a slight German accent, taking off his sunglasses.

"Oh,.. Hans, right?" Mark asked.

"Ja, Hans." Tim/Hans looked at his sweatpants and frowned. "Hmm, not proper… but yes. It has been so long since I've been back. Where are my reading glasses?"

Lucyfer held the glasses on the table up.

Tim/Hans walked over to her. "Thank you, Fraulein." He put them on. "But I am from Munich and would love to show my friends the nooses."

I snorted. "I think you mean 'ropes', Hans."

"Oh, dear, excuse me." He touched his glasses. "Ropes. What are nooses then?"

"They are specially knotted ropes used to hang people by their necks until they're dead."

"Oh dear," said Hans.

"Well, you probably have a few of those lying around," said Lucyfer, smirking. "So a week in Munich, then?"

We nodded across the room. _Yeah, Germany sounds fun… the castles… the schnapps... the culture..._

"Wunderbar," said Tim/Hans as he clapped his hands together.

"Would you like to plan something out?" Lucyfer asked Hans.

"Me?" Hans said, surprised.

"You probably know the place better than me. I was only in Munich for three days while R.I.P. DREAMS was on tour. Just make sure you discuss our budget and passports with Ollie."

"Can I help?" Mark asked Hans.

"Certainly," said Hans, smiling softly. "Have you ever been to Germany, Mark?"

"I've never been across the pond, but I got things on my bucket list in Germany."

"Wunderbar. We talk with Ollie."

Lucyfer opened up her computer and turned it to Mark and Tim/Hans who sat together on the other side.

"Just don't forget that we need to leave in a couple hours," said Lucyfer as she stood up.

"Oh, I better take a shower, then," I said as I headed over to the bathroom.

"Meredith!"

"Yeah?" I stopped at the door.

Lucyfer gave me a thumbs up. "Nice job pulling that speaker today."

"Thanks." I walked inside to clean myself up for the dinner.

I wore my nice blacks. Mark wore a new black jacket. Lucyfer was wearing her black t-shirt and black jeans with chains hanging from her pockets. She had her usual dark eyes and red lipstick. Her red highlights were fairly pink today. Tim/Hans was wearing a sports coat and nice pants with his reading glasses.

We all got in the jeep and Lucyfer drove us off. I sat in the front with Lucyfer. Mark and Tim/Hans sat in the back, talking about things in Munich.

Lucyfer glanced over to me. "I'm actually getting more excited the more those two talk about it. It was a good idea, Meredith."

"Well, you technically made a point about lightening things up earlier," I said.

"What?... Oh, you saw those messages."

"I couldn't help but see over Ollie's shoulder."

Lucyfer straightened her back. "Uh-huh. Bet you guys were laughing."

"Not really… We're all just stressed out, Dude."

"Hmm."

We arrived outside Gotham City in a kinda sketchy suburb. Windows were barred and boarded up. There was graffiti on wooden fences. A few cats hissed at us as we rolled by their trash cans. Eventually we reached a blue house with a security door and barred windows. It looked kinda nice compared to the others. A gray pick-up truck and a black SUV were parked up front. The lights were on inside.

We strolled up to the door. Before Lucyfer could knock, a tall man around her age picked her up and hugged her.

"Bryce, get off!" Lucyfer said, annoyed yet amused.

Bryce had short white hair and a strong chin. His shoulders were really broad and he had a goofy grin. He was slightly taller than Mark. "I'm not on you, Angel."

"Put me down!"

Bryce dropped her suddenly. "The Angel has fallen," he joked.

"Oh that was funny the first time you said it a million years ago, Old Man." Lucyfer got back up and she was suddenly snatched up by a stout woman with blonde hair. "Hi, Ma." The woman gave her kisses like none other.

Bryce looked over to us. "Hey, I'm Bryce. You friends with this weirdo?"

"I heard that," said Lucyfer.

We all introduced ourselves and Tim/Hans introduced himself as Hans.

"Where's Tim?" Lucyfer's mom asked. _I think she said her name was Helen?_

"Hans is Tim, Ma," explained Lucyfer. "I told you that he's got multiple personality issues."

"Oooh. That must be difficult. Well come on in, I almost thought you weren't going to show." She waved us inside.

We entered and I saw a man with a silvered brown beard sitting in the living room watching a game. There was a cane in his hand.

"Roy, they're here," said Helen.

"I heard, Woman," said Roy, standing up with his cane. He was as tall as Bryce. "How are ya', Angel Cake?" He asked Lucyfer.

She hugged him. "Hey, Papa. How's your leg?"

"Gone." Roy stepped back and lifted up his left pant leg. He had a prosthetic leg from mid-thigh down. It was metal. To emphasize, he tapped it with this cane.

"Goddamn," said Lucyfer.

"My legs are such shit they might as well give me new ones."

"What happened?" Mark asked.

"It's a _long_ story," said Helen. "But please, have a seat at the table." She indicated to the round table in the dining room.

We all sat around the table. I sat between Mark and Lucyfer. Tim/Hans sat next to Mark. Roy sat next to Tim/Hans. Helen sat next to Roy. Bryce sat between Helen and Lucyfer.

There were pans of pork chops, potatoes, green beans, and rolls as well as some sort of pie. _Holy shit. Home-cooked food… family dinner… who knew that those terms could be so alien._

Helen and Roy bowed their heads in a prayer. I put my hands in my lap politely. Mark did the same.

"Father, we thank you for bringing us together tonight," prayed Helen. "We've all been facing hard times lately. It's just a test of our faith that won't shake us or break us apart. We all wander in the dark with lights in our hearts and together we stand in the blaze of your glory. Thank you for all that we have and help us find our way to peace. Amen."

"Amen," we said in unison. Then, we started digging in.

"Are any of you religious?" Helen asked.

"Ma," scathed Lucyfer.

"I'm just curious."

Tim/Hans and Mark shook their heads.

Helen looked to me. "How about you, Sweetie?"

"I was raised Catholic, but came to be Atheist when I started thinking for myself," I said, shrugging. "Hope you don't hold that against me."

"Oh no. I was just honestly curious."

"Honestly, Ma," said Lucyfer. "The best policy is to never talk religion or politics."

"And _you_ are the authority on social norms?" Bryce asked with a smirk.

Mark snorted.

Lucyfer reached across me and hit Mark in the arm. "Please, Bryce. You're practically a hermit. Also, this neighborhood is so sketch that you probably tell what time it is by counting the drive-bys."

There were suddenly gunshots nearby, making everybody sit stiffly and quietly. We all heard a car screeching away.

"Well, I guess it's 6:30 PM," said Bryce with a smirk.

We all chuckled.

 _Haha, somebody probably got shot… We're terrible people but this pork chop is amazing..._

"I don't know. There's a certain je ne sais quoi about this neighborhood," said Bryce, smirking.

"It was the price, wasn't it?" Lucyfer asked.

"Maybe... and I like my privacy… I noticed you're camping out in the woods."

I frowned and looked at Bryce in surprise.

"Whatever, I know you've been in town for two months," said Lucyfer, rolling her eyes. "Cop-hunting again?"

"I'm just checking on my little cousin," said Bryce with a smirk. "I hear you've been running into trouble."

"With other _criminals_ , but we're taking care of it before I leave. The cops around here are just chasing their tails as usual. They would have their hands up their asses if it weren't for Batman and his little birds."

"Angel," said Helen softly. "No crude language at the table."

"Okay, Ma," said Lucyfer, rolling her eyes a bit.

"This is really great, Mrs. Smith," Mark said after a pause.

"Yeah," I added. "Thank you."

"Please, call me, Helen," said Helen with a smile as she looked over to Roy. "It was a team effort really."

"Always is," said Roy, winking at Helen.

"But thanks, Hon," said Helen.

Mark started discussing cooking and spices with Roy and Helen. Lucyfer and Bryce nipped at each other back and forth. Tim/Hans and I remained quiet and polite in our own heads.

"Meredith, you haven't said much," commented Roy, looking over to me.

"I don't have much input for the conversations going on," I said with a shrug.

"She and Tim-er-Hans are the quiet ones of the group," said Mark, putting his arms around Tim/Hans and me. "Silent but deadly."

I shook my head and smirked. "I'm not that deadly, especially compared to Mark the Marksman over here," I nodded to Mark.

"He's still not very good at throwing apple slices," said Lucyfer, chuckling.

I snickered.

Mark took his arms off Tim/Hans and me. "It was right after you blasted a bass guitar in my ear while I was sleeping," said Mark, leaning to look around me. "I hadn't even had coffee yet!"

Bryce laughed. "That's what happens when you sleep in, Mark… I'd always wake Angel up with Polka music cranked up all the way."

"One time you woke me up by shooting Papa's shotgun into the ceiling!" Lucyfer said, pointing to Bryce. "I had to keep a bucket under the hole for almost two years."

"What!" Mark exclaimed, shocked.

"Meine Güte!" Tim/Hans exclaimed.

Roy shook his head. "All the neighbors came running over, banging on the door, and asking if we were getting robbed. I said, 'no, my nephew just thought it was funny to shoot a hole in the roof in order to wake up my daughter.' Needless to say, they visited with us a lot less."

"Just as well," said Helen, shaking her head. "That Crawford woman was an awful gossip, and she always spilled her coffee."

"This stuff never happens in Metropolis, Lucy," murmured Mark, shaking his head.

"You just get alien gods like Superman," said Bryce, shaking his head.

"I'll take it. I mean goddamn. If I did that, my dad would've given me the belt. I'm just saying… I mean what did they do in South Dakota, Meredith?"

"I remember being threatened with the belt and soap," I commented, "but I mostly got timeouts and got grounded if I ever was bad."

"That's all you were ever threatened with?" Hans/Tim asked, surprised.

"Yeah, what were you threatened with?" Mark asked.

Hans/Tim blinked and looked down at his plate. His accent dropped off into his normal Tim voice. "Just about everything… from being locked in a hot closet… to getting my genitals chopped off… to being shot in the head."

Everyone was quiet.

"Your parents did that?" Bryce asked, gazing at Tim.

"My parents sold me into slavery when I was very young," said Tim, "so it was mostly my masters…"

Mark put an arm around Tim. "But no one does that to you anymore. You're a free man, Buddy."

Tim nodded. "May I use the bathroom?"

"Ah, sure," said Bryce. "Down the hall to your left."

Tim got up and went down the hall.

Roy shook his head. "Don't know how anyone could do that to their own blood."

"Or even a child," said Helen, gazing down the hall where Tim went. "That's just terrible."

We all gazed down at the table in a sad silence.

"Yeah," said Lucyfer, bitterly, "but he got through it. He's more of a man than most guys I've ever known. The most agile and kindest son of a bitch… Those parents of his missed out on a wonderful human being and I hope karma hurt 'em good."

We continued eating quietly and Tim eventually returned to the table. After a while, life returned to the conversation and I felt like we were starting to feel some unity again. _We all needed this._

"So are you two a couple?" Helen asked, Mark and me.

I felt myself turning a bit red. "Um, no, we're all just friends," I said quickly.

Mark turned and winked at me. "Then, why are you blushing?"

"I'm a little embarrassed she asked," I said honestly, turning redder. "That realm of relationship status has just always bewildered me. I mean you're cool and all, Mark, but I prefer your friendship."

"That's fine. I'm just teasing ya', Mere." He ruffled my hair.

"If anything, Mark and Lucyfer are in love," said Tim, casually.

"S'cuse you?" Lucyfer asked, leaning forward to look at Tim.

"The way you two bicker back and forth."

"I think you've been watching too many RomComs, you weirdo," said Lucyfer.

"RomComs?" Roy asked.

"Chick flicks, Papa. Romantic Comedies."

Roy grunted.

We had a pretty nice dinner together and eventually started heading out after Lucyfer nudged me.

"It was nice to meet all of you," said Helen, hugging each of us on the way out. Roy shook Tim's and Mark's hands.

"Nice to meet you," I said with a nod.

She gave me a hug and I hugged her back. _Reminds me of how I'd hug my mom… except my mom was taller._

"Oh, you're a nice hugger, Meredith," she commented.

"You, too," I said. "Thanks for this lovely night."

Roy and I shook hands. Then, he decided to give me a little hug, too. "You be careful out there."

"We will."

Bryce nodded to us and hugged Lucyfer. While she was getting hugged, the rest of us started heading out towards the brown jeep.

"That was fun," said Tim. "I like them."

"Ditto," said Mark.

We drove off home, feeling better about life.

Several weeks went by as Lucyfer worked with Ollie in secrecy, planning out the best way to massacre the Joker gang. Mark and I managed Tim's personality changes and maintained our skills in preparation for the final Gotham job. Mark and Tim/Hans started working out a secret Munich trip with Ollie's help. I was mostly left to my own devices and started writing poetry when I wasn't practicing shooting or fighting with Mark and Tim.

Finally, we were called to a warehouse in the downtown area. Mark and I picked up a few gadgets from Ollie, then we headed out together on his motorcycle. Lucyfer and Tim had already gone ahead with the brown jeep.

I arrived at the warehouse with Mark and noted the fifteen, hired thugs were waiting around.

"Where's Lucyfer?" I commented.

"Probably up there in the office," said Mark, pointing at an upstairs office window.

We walked up the stairs and stepped inside.

Lucyfer looked over to us as Tim stood by with a cowboy hat. "About time," she said, looking over to us.

"Howdy," said Tim/Jimmy with a nod.

"Jimmy, right?" I asked. _That's the Montana personality if I remember correctly._

"That's right, little missy," he said, smiling softly. Tim/Jimmy put his thumbs in his pockets. "Don't know why it's so hard for y'all to remember my name."

"Sorry, Jimmy. We've all been stressed lately," said Mark, slapping Tim/Jimmy's back.

"Well, let's get started," said Lucyfer. "Meredith, go find Matches and Freddy. You're going to be our lookout in the rafters." She handed me three headsets.

"What are we watching for?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Just be my eyes. If you see anything of interest, let me know."

"Okay then. What's the actual plan?"

"You'll see," Lucyfer insisted. "Just get out of the building when I tell you to get out."

I sighed. "Okay then," I said with a shrug as I put a headset on. "Matches and who?"

"Matches and Freddy."

"Okey dokey. Good luck, Everyone."

They nodded to me, and I headed back out the door. I sighed outside the door, feeling uneasy about not knowing the full picture. _Let's just do this and get out._

"Matches! Freddy!" I called out to the thugs. "You're with me."

A couple of guys walked over to me and I handed them the other two headsets. "We're lookouts." I looked them over.

Matches had sunglasses; a trimmed, black beard; dark hair with traces of silver; and a black jacket. The man was taller and had very broad shoulder. He also had a match sticking out from his mouth.

Freddy had a long, red beard and hair; a few scars on his face; and aviator sunglasses. He reeked of cigars and was sort of stout, a little taller than me, had a black t-shirt, and had a heart tattooed on his left shoulder. Inside the heart was the word "Mom".

 _A little cliche, but I'm glad you love your mom._

"Take off the sunglasses, Guys," I said as they looked at their headsets. "It's dusk, and I would like for you guys to be able to see."

They glanced at each other and took off their sunglasses.

Matches had piercing blue eyes and a scar around his left eye. Freddy had warm brown eyes.

 _Matches' eyes kind of remind me of Bruce Wayne's... huh_.

"Cool. Let's go." I headed out the door.

"What are we supposed to do?" A thug by the group asked.

"Wait for the others," I replied before Freddy closed the door.

"So are you Meredith?" Matches asked with a Brooklyn accent as we headed over to the brown jeep.

"You got it," I said.

"Heard you tussled with the Joker yourself."

"He's not exactly hard to tussle," I said. "He's just got little tricks up his sleeves. Otherwise, that guy is a punching bag with a big smiley face."

"What's the plan?" said Freddy.

"We're gonna be the eyes on the inside and report to Lucyfer. Probably climb up the rafters of the warehouse they're hiding out in and run out when she tells us to run. I don't know what she's planning exactly, but I don't blame her. Last heist has left us all a little paranoid. Probably some sort of explosion or gunfire."

Matches tried the passenger door.

"You gotta come in through the window," I said as I opened up the driver's side.

"Oh." He squeezed through the window and sat down in the seat.

Freddy hopped in the back. "It would be better if you just took off the doors," he said heavy smoker's voice.

"Not a bad idea," I replied as I turned on the jeep. I drove off and headed down to the Falcone shipyard where the Joker gang was hiding out. "Hey, Matches."

"Yeah?" Matches replied.

"I feel like I've heard your name before for some reason. What's the last name?"

"Malone. Matches Malone. I sometimes work for Thorn."

"Uh-huh..." I glanced over to him. "What do you do?"

"Whatever needs doin'. Look, I've been through Lucyfer's whole interview process. Unless you don't trust her judgement..."

I sighed. "Whatever, Man. I'm just jogging my memory. I feel like I know you from somewhere and it's bothering me." _It's gotta be his eyes. Those eyes that remind me of Bruce Wayne..._

As we stopped at a red light, I looked at his face again. "This is gonna sound stupid, but you remind me of Bruce Wayne."

Freddy laughed and coughed. "That pansy-ass playboy?"

"Nah, nah, I've heard this before," said Matches, smirking at me. "Broad shoulders and chinline."

"And his eyes," I added.

"What? You got a crush on the guy?" Freddy asked.

"No," I said, frowning. "I just saw him up close at that last heist. I was working undercover as a sound tech. For some reason, he just walked up and talked to me like we were equals. It was fucking weird."

The light went green, and I pressed the gas pedal.

"Rich people always look through you, you know?" I continued. "They pretend you don't exist like you're trash in the street. They act like they can fly even though they're just being carried on the backs of the people that need the money."

"Eh, he probably talked to you 'cause he needs to tease every girl in the room," said Freddy. "I've seen a lot of guys like that. Without their money and games, they got no salt."

"I guess I'm just used to seeing the worst of people... especially the rich."

"Oh yeah, you used to be homeless, right?" Matches asked. "They were talking about you on the radio the other day."

I sighed deeply. "Yep. Rich people are more likely to harass you and curse your existence than help." _Young people beating you with bats and other weapons... People scolding you for not getting a job and quitting the drugs even though they know nothing about you... Men offering money for sexual favors both jokingly and seriously... Fighting them all off, chasing them, and screaming for them to go away..._

"Gotham City has gotta be one of the worst places in the country to be homeless," commented Freddy.

"Probably," I said. "One of the mottos among the homeless was 'never apologize because the world will never apologize for what it does to you'."

In the rearview mirror, I saw Freddy nod. "Makes sense." He scratched under his ginger beard.

I pulled into a parking spot a few blocks away from the location and hopped out. "Okay, stay on my heels. They probably have some form of patrol."

They both grunted in agreement.

I snuck around the alleys, listening intently and peering around corners. I saw a pair of guys walking around the building talking to each other.

I waved Freddy and Matches down, ducking by some trash cans.

"You think those Drifters are gonna strike tonight?" A Joker thug asked.

"If they do, they got another thing coming," said the second joker thug. "Every thug in this place is armed to the teeth. There ain't no way those pussy-thieves are getting past us."

"Joker seems to be really expecting it soon."

"Well, yeah, weren't you there at the key thing? That blonde chick-Lucyfer or whatever-was pissed as hell. She's the leader and that bitch is gonna be out for blood."

"You think they'll use that speaker that one chick stole from the police? Make us go deaf... or make our heads explode?"

"There's no speaker strong enough to do that." They rounded the corner and started walking away from us.

I stood up and climbed up the building ladder to reach the decrepit roof. There were rust patches and holes in various spots.

"Be careful," I whispered to Freddy and Matches as they stepped onto the roof with me. Then, I carefully crawled on my hands and knees across a thin area. Freddy and Matches followed me in the crawl, and I found a hole that led down into the rafters.

I lowered myself down onto the rafter and walked down the line towards a lit up area. I gestured for the guys to split up into different corners as we gazed down at the thugs below. The clown thugs were drinking and different groups were playing card games. There was a sign hanging between rafters that said, 'Welcome Back, Joker!'

I turned on my headset. "No sign of Joker," I commented.

Freddy and Matches turned on their headsets. They couldn't see him either.

"Just wait, Meredith," said Lucyfer. "What's going on right now?"

"A lot of thugs are playing cards and drinking. There's a sign that says, 'Welcome Back, Joker!'."

"I see. Well, let me know if anything changes and make sure you can get out of there in thirty seconds and that they're not doors."

"No pressure," I said, frowning. I glanced over at Freddy and Matches. "Do you guys have 30 second exits near you?"

They looked around. I saw an open window nearby me.

"I got one," I said.

"I do not," said Matches.

"I do," said Freddy.

"Okay, Matches," I said. "Get closer to either Freddy or me once the Joker arrives. Then, you can follow one of us out when Lucyfer tells us to go."

Matches gave me a thumbs up. "I guess I'll be following you out then."

"I got this open window over here. Do you see it?"

He gave me another thumbs up.

"Great," I said with a nod.

"So we still have no legitimate idea about how this is gonna go down?" Matches asked.

"Nope. At best, I'm thinking they're collapsing the building somehow." I shrugged. "Otherwise, why do we have a run call?"

"Garage door's opening," warned Freddy.

We looked down and saw the opening garage door. A van came through and pulled over on the side. The Joker stepped out and waved. A big grin was on his face, but he definitely still had healing bruises on his face from our fight.

A bunch of thugs started woohoo'ing and clapping. "Joker! Joker! Joker! Joker!"

Joker bowed, grinning. "Thank you. Thank you." Several thugs got out of the van.

"The Joker has arrived with some thugs in a van," I announced on the headset.

"Thank you," said Lucyfer.

Matches started walking over to me on the rafters while staying low. He seemed pretty adept on them.

"Christmas has come early, Gentlemen!" Joker said, waving the thugs down. He snapped his fingers and thugs dragged out Commissioner Gordon, Detective Bullock, and two other police officers I didn't recognize. _Oh no..._

"Lucyfer, we got a problem," I said.

"What?" Lucyfer replied.

"Joker's got four hostages."

"Eh, it's fine," said Freddy. "They're just some cops and the commissioner cop."

"Oh, then I don't see the problem, Meredith," said Lucyfer.

"Lucyfer," I hissed. "We agreed to killing a bunch of clowns _not_ cops. I don't like these guys any more than you do, but at least they do their jobs. Some of them have families. We only steal from scumbags, remember?"

Lucyfer sighed. " _Four_ people for the price of all the other people Joker's killed including 200 of my fans and friends? Hell, he almost killed you and Tim-or Jimmy-whatever he's going by now because of the brain damage that poor man got."

The four hostages were tied down in chairs in the middle of the room.

"Just give me time to get them out," I said. "That's all I'm asking."

"Are you crazy?" Freddy asked. "You're gonna get yourself killed over four cops that would put you away if they ever caught you."

"Mind your own business, Freddy. Lucyfer, how much time can you give me?"

"...Five minutes," said Lucyfer flatly. "That's all you get, and if you aren't out of range in time... then what happens happens. I'm not letting that son of a bitch get away again. You got it?"

"Yes," I said.

"Good. Then hurry up. The rest of you get out. I'm closing up shop."

Freddy shook his head at me and headed out.

I studied the room. The hostages were surrounded by the thugs and the doors were being blocked as we speak.

"I'll help you," said Matches, looking at me.

I blinked, surprised. "Okay... Follow me."

We headed out the window. I noted our hired thugs were running around door to door. Matches and I leapt down onto the ground.

"Where are we going?" Matches asked.

"Underground." I ran over to a nearby manhole cover and pried it up. Then, I jumped down into the hole and rushed through the sewers. I put on my heat vision goggles when I felt we were approximately underneath. We were right under the circle of hostages and saw what I assumed to be the Joker moving around them.

"Three minutes," said Lucyfer.

"Can you get me on your shoulders?" I asked Matches.

He lifted me up and I stood on his shoulders. Matches held my ankles. Then, I started laying out C-4 around the circle of hostages on the ceiling.

"What's the plan?" Matches asked.

"I'm gonna blow out part of the floor," I said. "We cut 'em loose and then we all run. By the way, why are you helping me?"

Then, Matches' phone started ringing.

"Who the fuck left their phone on?" Lucyfer asked.

"Sorry," said Matches as he took off his headset. "Gotta take this real quick."

"Unprofessional," scathed Lucyfer.

"Yeah?" Matches answered his phone. "What is it supposed to look like?... Well, then stop her... I'm busy right now... Look, I'll call you later..." He hung up. "What did you say, Meredith?"

"Why are you helping me?" I asked again.

"You got a point. I'm not much for cop-killin' either."

I sighed. "Well, thanks I guess." _Still questioning your motives.._.

"Welcome."

"Hey Bonnie and Clyde, you got one minute," said Lucyfer. "HEY! STOP HIM!"

I felt myself turn red. "Almost done. Okay, let me down, Matches."

Matches let me down and we got back behind a corner.

I watched with my heat vision and detonated the C4 when the moving figure was away from the four.

There was a loud explosion and the hostages dropped down into the sewers in a chorus of shouts. I threw down smoke bombs and ran over to them with Matches.

"Thirty seconds!" shouted Lucyfer.

We cut the hostages loose and led them out by their hands. "RUN!" I shouted.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

There was extremely, loud guitar music and everything rumbled in the underground. It was 10 times worse than the key heist. I could feel all my bones rattling and everyone struggled to not fall over. Bricks and debris started falling down.

Above the surface, I could hear Lucyfer singing over the extremely loud guitar music.

"YOU'RE GONNA SCREAM WHY? WHY? WHY?

R.I.P. DREAMS WILL SHOUT DIE! DIE! DIE!

YOU'RE GONNA SCREAM WHY? WHY? WHY?

R.I.P. DREAMS WILL SHOUT DIE! DIE! DIE!

YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?!

I... HATE... CLOOOOOOWNS!

WHITE-FACE, BUMS, MIMES, AND THUG!

ALL THE SAME FACE-PAINTED CULT FROM HELL!

DEMONS HUNGER FOR ATTENTION AND INNOCENCE:

CHILDREN'S WIDE-EYES AND TENDER FLESH.

FOR YOU, WE GOT A CHEF'S SPECIAL ON FLAMBĖ...

TASTE THE BURNING RUBBER ON YOUR FACE

AS WE ROADKILL THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR RAAAAAACE!"

The ceiling started to collapse on that last scream, and we were all slammed onto the ground by the debris.

I groaned under all the rock and brick and shifted it around to get out. Fatigued, I stopped and rested for a moment while I was halfway out. Gazing ahead, I saw we were still underground in the sewers. A man wearing a rabbit mask carrying Lucyfer away down the tunnel. She was unconscious and helpless.

 _No..._

Groaning, I tried to pull myself out and got halfway out as the masked man turned the corner. "Lucyfer," I whispered with a raw voice as I reached out. Weakly, I lied back down and lost consciousness.

When, I awoke again, I remembered my legs were still under a pile of rubble. I struggled to pull myself and finally managed to get free. _Lucyfer... gotta save her..._

Then, I realized Matches was stuck under the rubble, unconscious among the other cops we saved. _Can't leave them down here..._

I started digging him out and found a heavy board was on top of him.

Matches grunted as he looked up to me. His beard was askew. _What the hell?_

"Is anything broken?" I asked with my raw voice, frowning.

"I'm not sure," said Matches.

"I'm gonna pull you out, but first-" I yanked his beard off.

"Ow!" Bruce Wayne touched his face in pain as it turned red.

"Fucking knew it," I said, tossing the beard aside.

"I can explain."

"Yeah yeah, give me your hands, you sneaky bastard." I took ahold of his hands and gritted my teeth as I struggled to pull him out from the rubble. When his chest was out, I hugged around his torso under his arms and struggled to pull him out again. With a groan, I managed to get him out and topple backwards onto my back. My head smacked on the ground and everything hurt.

Bruce's head was lying on my stomach for a moment before he struggled to his feet. He pulled out a ski mask and covered his face as the cops started waking up. Then, he helped me up to my feet.

"Ugh, what happened?" Bullock asked.

Bruce and I casually walked by them towards the intersection to check if there was anyone else around.

"Freeze, you two!" Bullock shouted at us. "Explain what happened!"

I turned around. "We saved your pathetic asses is what happened," I said, folding my arms. "So say thank you and let us part ways for now. We're all hurting and I'm sure you'll figure out what happened as soon as you step outside, Dickhead."

"Storm?" Bullock was extremely confused. "You saved us?"

"Believe it or not, I do have a conscience when it comes to innocent life." I brushed powder off me.

The cops all eventually got up. Commissioner Gordon's glasses were broken.

Then, I could hear a hissing... like a crocodile...

"Shh!" I shushed them, hearing it.

"Stay close," Bruce murmured, hearing it, too.

I stepped close to Bruce. We walked along the sewer tunnel as quietly as we could. I peered around the corner and saw Killer Croc walking our way. There was a ladder next to him leading up to an escape.

I looked to Bruce and thumbed in the direction I saw Croc. "There's a ladder behind him," I murmured. "When I lead him away, you take them up the ladder." I nodded to the cops behind him.

Bruce shook his masked head.

I shook my head at him and patted his chest. Then, I leapt out in the middle of the sewer intersection before Bruce protest further.

Croc hissed at me, baring his teeth. He had a cut on his head and was covered in dust like we were. _Must've been hit by the death metal of desolation, too._

"Wow, oh what large teeth you have..." I said, staring up at him.

"All the better to eat you with," Killer Croc sneered, raspy.

I stepped backwards, laughing uncomfortably. "Oh. Come on, y-you don't eat people... right?"

Killer stepped forward, grinning a bit with all his sharp teeth. His yellow eyes were narrowed on me. "What do you think, Bitch?"

 _He does._ I kept walking backwards a little quicker since his steps were huge. "Well, I'm sure I'd taste nasty. Sewers! I mean, am I right or am I right?"

"I'm sure you'll taste as sweet as lamb chops. Maybe sweeter... Maybe you'll scream like one."

"Nah... I'm not a screamer." We passed by the intersection where Bruce was. Croc was too focused on me right now. I turned around and ran for it, hooking a sharp right for a main hub. If I remember correctly, it had chains hanging in the middle that I could get an extended jump. I ran as fast as I could, feeling Croc gaining momentum on me. His hot breath was on my back.

He almost snatched me as I jumped for the chain and swung up. Croc splashed down into the pool below and I swung over to the right to double back. I ran down the tunnel with my heart pounding in my chest. In no time, I heard Croc stomping after me in the distance. I climbed up the ladder and saw Bruce waiting with the manhole cover. As Croc reached up, Bruce dropped the heavy cover on his arm. Croc pulled his arm back inside, screaming in pain.

I lied on the ground, exhausted from running. "Eat _that_ , Bitch," I muttered.

Killer Croc popped the manhole off and grabbed my ankle. Feeling my stomach tighten, I dug my nails into the concrete and was dragged down violently. I felt him bite into my thigh. His teeth sank in deeply and blood cascaded down my skin.

"Fuck!" I shouted, trying to kick him in the face with my other leg. Angrily, I struggled to slam my fists into his head. "You miserable son of a bitch! I am going to skin you and sell you at a Cajun festival, Motherfucker! FUCKING CAYENNE PEPPER ON THE FUCKING BARBIE!"

Suddenly, Croc was smacked down onto the ground, but he didn't let go of my leg. He ripped out a whole chunk and turned around to fight a masked Bruce Wayne.

"I know that scent," Croc snarled at him.

Killer Croc and Bruce started fighting. I searched my pockets as I lied on the ground in absolute agony. Then, I found a knife in my boot and a taser in one of my lower pockets. The taser was still charged. Hiding the taser, I threw the knife at Croc, aiming for his heart as he closed in on Bruce.

Instead of hitting Croc's heart, it nailed him squarely in one of his butt cheeks. He yowled in pain and turned to look at me. "YOU BITCH!"

 _Huh. Perception must be pretty fucked up._ I showed him my middle finger.

He stomped over to me, very pissed off. Absolutely seething, Killer Croc picked me up and squeezed me tightly between his hands. "I will feast on your bones!"

"Not today," I said before I tased him in the neck.

Killer Croc screamed as he was shocked.

The electricity ran through me, too, so I couldn't release the shock switch. Eventually, the power ran out and Croc collapsed to the ground, unconscious. With a thump, I landed on his chest. I groaned in pain and did not want to move. Blinking, I saw Bruce standing nearby with his mask still on.

"Bruce," I said, weakly. I struggled to get up, but had no energy left in me. It was then I noticed most of my fingernails had been ripped off my fingers. _Did that happen when I was dragged down back into the sewers?_ Blood ran down my hands onto Killer Croc's chest.

Bruce knelt down next to me.

"The Hatter-the Mad Hatter… Find him, please… He's taken her."

Bruce nodded, understanding. Then, he looked up and ran off.

My eyelids slowly closed as I saw him run down the tunnel. "Please…" I murmured.

I heard several footsteps nearby, and I lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4: Follow The Rabbit

**CHAPTER FOUR: FOLLOW THE RABBIT**

I awoke to someone opening my eyelids and flashing a light in my pupils. Annoyed, I swatted the light away with bandaged fingers. It was then I realized my wrists were cuffed in front of me.

"This one is awake," the stranger called to someone else.

My vision blurred and refocused. An older-looking, male EMT was kneeling by me, checking my vitals.

"Can you tell me what day it is?" The EMT asked.

I gazed up and noticed the sun was up. _Ugh... I'm so tired and my head hurts. Everything hurts._ I glanced around the area. We were surrounded by about twenty cops.

"Um... June?" I suggested raspily. My throat hurt from screaming earlier.

Killer Croc was lying unconscious twenty feet from me and they were putting a huge shock collar on his big neck.

"June... what?" The EMT asked.

"Look, Dude," I said flatly as I looked at him. I coughed to clear my throat. "I just have a headache and soreness. I don't have brain damage or a serious concussion. I just need rest."

The EMT frowned, offended. "Well, excuse me. Didn't realize that I was in the presence of a doctor over here-I've been a paramedic longer than you've been alive, Kid."

"It's not the first time I've been in a fight," I retorted. I used my sore arms to push up into a sitting position.

"What's your rush, Storm?" Detective Bullock asked. He approached with his arm in a splint and sling. Bruises were forming on his face.

Suddenly, there was a monstrous snarl. We all jumped and turned. Killer Croc was on his feet, snapping his sharp jaws at a nearby cop. Sparks suddenly flew off his shock collar and Croc roared as he fell to one knee. I could see that he had huge cuffs on his large wrists. The police were pointing their guns at him.

Killer Croc's beady yellow eyes scanned around, and then he noticed me. Those eyes narrowed and he did a hissy growl. Then, he bashed some cops to the side and started charging right at me.

I stared at him, startled yet fascinated by the absolute rage.

Cops started shooting at him and his collar went off. Croc fell down, slid across the pavement, and came down to a stop ten feet away. He looked up at me and continued to glare. "I have your scent, Lamb Chop," he hissed at me.

Cops ran over to him and surrounded him.

I shook my head at him. "Fuck off. All I did was defend myself."

"Oh yeah? What do you call that, Storm?" Bullock pointed in the distance.

"Get up!" Several cops shouted at Croc.

With a grunt, Killer Croc lifted himself back up and bared his sharp teeth at me.

Weakly, I stood up, favoring one leg. I saw some collapsed buildings in the distance where Bullock pointed. _Worse than I thought… Damn, Lucyfer..._ "Are there any survivors?" I asked, looking at my injured leg. It wasn't missing a chunk of flesh... My leg was whole and only had a surface scar and soreness. _Jesus Christ… it's getting faster._

"They're starting to dig right now," said Bullock. "Hope you and your friends are happy with yourselves."

"I still don't deserve to be eaten by a scaly blockhead," I said, folding my arms.

Killer Croc growled. "This isn't over, Lamb Chop. I will feast on your bones." The cops started leading him away.

"Don't choke!" I called after him. Then, I coughed.

"I won't!" Croc shouted back. They got him into a prisoner transfer vehicle and slammed the doors shut behind him.

"So, you wanna tell me what the hell happened back there?" Bullock asked, thumbing towards the destruction.

I shrugged. "I guess she took vibration frequency to another level."

"Vibration frequency?" Bullock raised a brow at me, not enjoying the taste of those words.

"Breaking stuff with soundwaves," I said, flatly. "Like how we broke the glass cases at the last gig."

"Yeah. Whose idea was that?"

"Who do you think, Bullock?" I asked as I gazed at my cuffs. "Look, I saved your lives back there, so can you just cut me some slack?"

Bullock raised a brow at me. "You think saving us undid what you did to that doctor? The things you've stolen? You're also looking at murder one for at least fifty guys that died in that soundwave massacre!"

I counted on my fingers. "One, that doctor deserved what he got. Two, I've only stolen from people that could afford it. Three, those guys were Joker's thugs and the Joker himself. Four, I could've left you to die with all those bastards."

"You _broke the law_ , Storm," Bullock said, flatly. "Now where are the others?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "We all had different jobs."

"Where do you hide out?" He leaned forward, getting in my space.

I sighed. "That's none of your business."

Bullock folded his arms. "Who are the other two guys?"

"Piss off."

"Well, you better tell me something."

"The Mad Hatter has taken another Alice?" I offered.

Bullock snorted. "Cute, he's still in Arkham last I checked."

"Check again. I saw a man with a rabbit mask-you know like his mind-controlled henchmen? The rabbit was carrying _Lucyfer_ through the sewers."

"Lucyfer, eh? Well, at least it wasn't a civilian."

"Come on, Man!" I protested. "No one deserves to be left to the Mad Hatter!"

"I don't even know if you're tellin' the truth," said Bullock.

I grimaced. "Fine... You guys probably couldn't find Jack if he was hiding in his box."

He grabbed me by the front of my shirt. "Listen, you little punk-"

Annoyed, I kicked him in the shin with my boot.

Bullock let go and swore at me. Another cop hit me with a club, knocking me to my knees as I held my head with my cuffed hands.

"Just send me back to Arkham," I said flatly. "You're wasting my time."

"What's your rush?" Bullock sneered. "You're gonna be locked in there for the rest of your life, you lunatic."

"Good luck with that," I sneered.

"Bullock!" Commissioner Gordon spoke as he approached. His frown was highlighted by his white mustache. He was covered in ash and his glasses were still broken. "What's going on over here?"

"Interrogatin' the suspect, Commish" said Bullock. "Jeez, are those steel-toes?" He pointed at my boots.

"Steel-toed combat boots," I said. "Grab me again and I'll kick your groin."

"Why you-"

"Enough," said Commissioner Gordon, stepping between Bullock and me. "Bullock, get that arm looked at by an actual doctor." Gordon turned to me. "And _you_ , another outburst like that and you will be shot."

I scoffed and coughed to the side. _Man, everything sucks._

"I'll ride with you to Arkham," Gordon added, nodding to the two cops.

The two cops nodded and escorted me over to a police car. Reporters were flashing their cameras and shouting questions. Gordon ducked me down and sat next to me while the other two cops sat up front.

"Drive," said Gordon.

The cop at the driver's seat started slowly driving through the crowd of onlookers and reporters. He honked a little to speed things up.

I glanced around the police car for escape options. _Windows locked. Doors locked. Weathered, metal caging between front and backseat. The cuffs are loose enough to squeeze my hands out. Commissioner Gordon is older than me and more noble, but I am just as tired. He's also had military training I think. He's not currently armed... the thugs must've swiped his stuff... Element of surprise, but I'd have to really make it count..._

After a moment, Gordon spoke. "You and that man saved the four of us when you could've left us to die."

I shrugged. "I'm a criminal, but I'm not evil."

"You did murder that doctor...?"

"He was a rapist and a coward." I rested my hands in my lap. "All his patients in the female ward would testify to that, but we're all insane so no one really listens."

"You admit it then?" Gordon asked, his broken glasses glinted in the sun.

I looked at him in the eyes. "Yes... and I will _never_ apologize."

"All right. What about last night? What was that about?"

Looking ahead, I roughly explained that I was a scout this round, and that we were out to kill the Joker.

Gordon's brow furrowed. "Why _now_ rather than years ago? Why over a key?"

"Doesn't matter," I said bitterly. "He's dead and she's been taken."

" _Taken_? By who?"

"Mad Hatter."

"You're sure?"

I inhaled. "Henchman wearing a rabbit mask carried her away in the sewers where we were-" I glanced out the driver's side window and saw a black car that was coming at us way too fast at the intersection. _It's gonna hit us!_

"FUCK!" I covered my head with my cuffed arms.

The front of the car crashed into the driver's side. The force slammed Commissioner Gordon into me. There was a horrible noise of glass, fiberglass, and metal ripping open.

The car flipped several times, and it landed upside down. Dazed, I lied on the roof on my back with Commissioner Gordon next to me. His broken glasses had flown off his face, and he was bleeding from his head. Then, the window next to me was smashed open. Gloved hands reached in and grabbed ahold of me by my underarms. The hands pulled me out through the window.

"Let go of me," I groaned as I looked up to see a tall man in a dark purple ski mask and long-sleeve shirt.

"It's Bryce," he said lowly. "Remember?" He lifted me over his shoulder and carried me off. Then, he jumped down some alleyway stairs and entered some place.

 _Lucyfer's cousin? What is he doing here?_

Bryce set me down and handed a guy some money. "You didn't see us," said he to the guy. Then, Bryce turned to me. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Walk." He started walking down a hallway and I followed. We went through several doors. Then, he paused to pull off his ski mask to release his white hair.

Quickly, I took the time to take off my cuffs.

Bryce put his purple ski mask on my head like it was a skull cap and took off his purple shirt to reveal his bare chest, covered in scars and muscle. "Put this on." He handed me his purple shirt.

I put the shirt on. "Why are you helping me?" I asked.

He put his gloves in his pockets and wiped away the blood on my face. "Lucyfer's family is my family," said Bryce, "and I would like to know what the hell happened. I can't reach her on her phone." He took my cuffs and led me through a dry cleaning place. Then, he rushed out the door and led me up to the crowded, elevated train stop. Bryce put his arm around my shoulders as we stood by and waited for the train.

I frowned and looked at his hand that was draped over my shoulder. "Um, thanks for getting me out of there," I said.

"You're welcome," grunted Bryce.

"...So... you like the color purple?" I commented.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Bryce asked, frowning.

I shook my head. "No, my little brother liked to wear purple, too. It's my mom's favorite color."

"It was _my_ mother's favorite color, too," he said. His expression turned cold and the train slowly arrived and released the arrivals. "Where is Angel?" He asked as we entered the train and went to the back.

"In Wonderland," I said quietly.

Bryce looked at me, confused. "What?"

"You heard me... The Mad Hatter."

Bryce cursed to himself.

"He might have Mark and Tim if he has her," I added.

"How did this happen?" Bryce asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just saw a rabbit carrying her off in the sewers. I passed out from my injuries of the falling debris before I could pursue. Ollie might be able to track them down with their phones."

"Fair point... Let's go see this Ollie."

"First, I better pick up the jeep and call her."

Bryce grunted. "That old brown one?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Where is it?"

"Six blocks away from the scene."

"Okay. Then, we'll get off three stops from now."

I nodded. "Okay."

We got off at the third stop and I continued to explain what happened.

"You risked your life for some cops?" Bryce asked, displeased.

"I know you hate them, Bryce, but for what it's worth they're not all bad. Some of them anyway."

Bryce stopped walking and took me by the shoulders. "Listen."

"Okay…?" I said, a little startled and uncomfortable.

He stared into my eyes. "They are puppets to a broken system. People that chose to stand against people like us because of their self-righteous societal standards of justice. No matter how evil or kind we are, they will gun us down because we don't follow their ways."

"Well, it's not like we're so innocent," I said. "I mean we've hurt and killed people."

"You talk like them."

I narrowed my eyes. "I understand both sides." Then, I shoved him away from me and kept walking.

Bryce pursued me. "Did you consider to think that it might be _your_ fault that they've been taken, Meredith? You did save that girl from the Mad Hatter, and you did separate from the group while they were attacked."

 _Can't lose my cool. Not now. Just focus on the job._ "What matters is that we get them back," I said coldly.

Bryce shook his head. We continued through the city and reached the brown jeep. I picked out the keys and phone from the glove box.

Bryce got in through the window and I called Ollie up.

"Yeah?" Ollie answered.

"Meredith," I replied.

"What the hell is going on? The police arrested you and you were taken by a man in all purple according to police scanners."

I told her the whole story minus my realization that Matches Malone was Bruce Wayne. "...we're at the brown jeep, and I was hoping you could track Lucyfer's cell."

"I've been trying all morning," said Ollie. "Something is interfering with the signal."

I relayed that to Bryce.

"It's best if you and I regroup, Meredith," Ollie added. "In the meantime, let me talk to Bryce."

I handed the phone to Bryce. "She wants to talk to you."

He held the phone to his ear. "Bryce," he said. "... Certainly… Yeah, I can do that…" He glanced over to me. "Worn out… yeah…" He put the phone on his shoulder. "Can you drive me down to the Bowery?"

"Sure." I turned on the jeep after a few tries. As Bryce continued to talk, I drove around the devastated block that was blocked off by police. Then, I noticed at one gate that a homeless person was getting pushed out by officers.

I pulled off to the side of the street as the homeless person moseyed along. It was a middle-aged woman with a bag of cans, carrying a shaking, gray terrier. Her long, black hair was turning silver and was braided. I reached between the seats for the cash envelope. "S'cuse me, Ma'am!" I called out to her.

Her dog barked. The homeless woman stopped, confused and startled.

"What are you doing?" Bryce hissed.

"Yeah, can I talk with you for a moment?" I asked. "Please?"

She moseyed over to me, suspicious. "What do you want?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

The dog barked at us again.

"Quiet, Merkie," she said to the dog.

"Did you see anything over there last night?" I asked, handing her a twenty dollar bill. "This is yours to keep."

Her dog growled a bit, sniffing my hand.

The lady's eyes widened a bit as she took the twenty. "You a reporter?"

"No," I said. "Some friends of mine have gone missing."

"Speak up, Honey. I'm a little deaf."

"I'm looking for the people that caused that building to collapse," I said a little louder. "They're missing."

She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, saw the whole thing with the cranes and the speakers. The blonde chick was playing the hell out of that guitar, and there were a bunch of thugs running around."

 _Lucyfer._ "What happened?"

"The young man with the blue hair told a few thugs to leave me alone. He gave me ear plugs when I refused to leave my spot."

 _Mark._

"Yes, yes," said Bryce impatiently, "but what went wrong?"

The middle-aged woman frowned at Bryce and looked at me. "Anyway, two Batman sidekicks showed up while that angry music was going full blast. They beat everyone up, and the blonde chick smashed her guitar on the red-and-green one. The blue-and-black one knocked her out and the police started showing up. I was hiding in my spot under the stairs. And you're not gonna believe this, but I saw a rabbit-man come running out of nowhere. He picked up the blonde and carried her away. I threw a can at the blue-haired guy and Merkie woke him up. The young man kicked people awake and he ran off in the direction the rabbit-man went while the rest scattered."

 _What about Tim?_ "You didn't see a bald guy with a cowboy hat?" I asked.

"Oh, he followed the blue-haired man."

"How far behind the rabbit-man were they timewise?"

"Uh, five-ten minutes?" The homeless lady said, pushing hair out of her face.

 _I didn't see them go down the sewers, so they might've lost the trail… or I might've passed out while they were running through. Or maybe they got deterred by Killer Croc… He did look pretty beat up… I had assumed it was from Lucyfer's playing, but some of it might've been Tim's work while defending him and Mark…_

"Anything else?" The homeless lady asked.

I pulled out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to her. "Thank you."

"This is too much," she said, her hands shaking.

I shook my head. "I was homeless for a few years until that guy with the blue-hair pulled me out of the gutter. It's rough out here and I really appreciate the information. Best of luck."

"Bless your heart." She touched my hand. Then, she put the money in her inner pocket. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She set down her dog and reached deep in her pocket to show Tim's little drawing pad. "The cowboy dropped this."

I took it as she handed it to me. "Thank you," I said, flipping through it so Bryce couldn't see. "This means a lot to him." I pocketed it.

"Good luck with your search, Miss?"

"Meredith," I said, holding out my hand.

"Izzy," she said, shaking my hand warmly and smiling. "Can I hug you?"

I unbuckled my seatbelt. "Absolutely. I could use a hug." I reached out through my window and hugged her warmly.

Izzy sniffed as she hugged me tightly.

The dog barked up at me.

"Is there anywhere I can drive you?" I asked as we let go.

"Jesus," said Bryce, annoyed.

"Oh Merkie needs the walk," said Izzy. "And your boyfriend doesn't seem to like me."

"Oh he's just some jerk that the blonde chick knows," I said, shaking my head. "I'd never date him, personally."

"Just as well, I'll walk. Thank you, Meredith." She started walking along.

"You're very welcome, Izzy" I said before continuing to drive to the Bowery.

"Just some jerk, huh?" Bryce asked with a raised brow.

"Well, you're definitely not my boyfriend. You're hardly even a friend. You just tried to convince me that this was all my fault… like a jerk."

"...You're too nice," he said, before he continued his talk with Ollie.

I drove him over to the Bowery, not really paying attention to what he was saying. It was difficult enough to focus on the road with the fatigue in my eyes.

"Meredith, pull over anywhere," Bryce said.

"Okay." I pulled over.

He got out of the car. "Head to Ollie's-wherever that is."

"Are you taking that phone with you?"

"Yes."

"Whoa, wait, here's your shirt back." I took off the purple shirt and threw it over to him.

Bryce threw it back at me. "Smells like sewers, sweat, and homeless people. Keep it."

"Okay."

"Yep." He kept walking.

Shrugging, I set the shirt in the passenger seat and headed to Ollie's. My stomach started growling, so I pulled through a drive-thru before continuing to the suburbs.

As I reached to knock on the door, the door swung open and I was yanked inside by Ollie. "Jesus fuck I thought you'd never show up." She hugged me.

I hugged her back, surprised and and a bit delighted.

"God, you smell awful," she muttered, letting me go. "I gotta get you out of those clothes."

I frowned and watched Ollie pick up a trash bag. "Put every garment in this bag."

"But I'll be naked," I said, uncomfortable.

"I've seen you naked in Tim's notepad and I'm an ace. Relax."

"Oh." I pulled out Tim's notepad. "The homeless person I talked to gave me this."

"Nice." Ollie took it and set it aside. Then, she opened a door and walked upstairs.

I took off my things and put it in the bag. Then, I followed her up the brown, carpeted stairs.

As I went through the door at the top, I was a bit startled at the sight of the upstairs. The carpet and walls were a pristine white color. To my right was a sitting room with purple couches and a wooden coffee table with a peacock carved into the surface. Right in front of me was the dining room had a round wooden table with white tablecloth. In the middle of the table was a bowl of feathers and potpourri with two candles. All over the walls were different paintings that seemed very dreamlike with floating things and lack of hard edges. They seemed to have similar signatures in the corners. To my left was the kitchen that was several shades of purple and had some sort of metal door that looked like a coroner's slot. Ollie stood by the metal door and opened it up with a bit of effort. It seemed to be some sort of chute.

Ollie looked at me. "Mind closing that door? Try not to touch the glass."

I turned and looked for the door. The door was a giant mirror and shadow box shelf. I closed it until it clicked. It blended in with the wall. There was pictures of a black man with black hair pulled into a ponytail. He was smiling, painting, and playing with a lighter skinned girl who was also smiling. She wore glasses and had Ollie's hazel eyes. _Ollie… and her dad who died..._

"Nothing important in those right?" Ollie asked.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"The clothes," she pointed at the bag in my hands.

"Oh-no." I shook my head.

"Throw it in."

Approaching her, I tossed the garbage bag in the chute and covered myself with my arms.

Ollie closed up the chute.

"Upstairs is really nice," I commented.

"Yeah, gives me some variety from downstairs and a facade for anyone that comes knocking on the front door… when was the last time you've been naked in front of someone else?"

"When's the last time you walked outside?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Fair enough… This way." She led me through some sliding doors next to the kitchen. It opened to a lavender and pink master bedroom. It had a california king bed with a purple coverlet. There was also two side tables with matching lamps. The left table had a remote, a glass of water, and alarm clock. I looked around for the TV and saw it was mounted over the doorway. To the right was another pair of sliding doors.

Ollie opened the sliding doors up and entered it. It was a walk-in closet that was relatively tidy. The carpet was purple and the walls are white. At the left was the bathroom with a shower. Ollie plucked a few shirts off hangers and set them down in the middle. Ollie also threw some pants down along with a jacket, boots, socks, bras, and underwear. "Wear any of these and keep them, I have too many clothes," said Ollie as she folded her arms. "Clean up, rest in my bed, eat anything in the kitchen… I'm gonna keep working on tracking them down, okay? Bryce is helping out, too."

"Okay," I murmured.

"Nice ink by the way," she said, looking at the blue rose on my shoulder.

"Thanks."

Ollie walked out and I heard her close the doors.

I headed straight over to the shower and cleaned myself off. Worry and guilt started to fill my head. _What if Bryce is right? What if it is my fault?_

 _I'm the youngest! I'm not supposed to babysit them! And they never called for help! My job was just to get out._

 _What if something happens to them? I mean Mark and Tim might be fine as minions, but Lucyfer… I mean if the Mad Hatter mind controls her, she's toast…_

 _She's got a strong will… so she can fight it, right? Maybe she'll show up before long and just needs to wake up…_

 _Or she'll be dead… like those poor girls before…_

I leaned my forehead into the shower wall, depressed. _Why does this shit happen to me?... I'll never be able to forgive myself if I find them all dead… Never…_

Sighing, I turned off the shower and dried myself off. I picked out random clothes in the pile and got into Ollie's soft bed. As I stared up at the ceiling, I noticed there was a mural of people and creatures flying in the sky in a starry dreamland. It had the same signature in the corner as the other paintings in the house. As I studied the details of the ceiling, I found it easier to fall asleep.

 _I was in the sewers again, looking for them. I saw a bunch of Joker thugs crawling through a tunnel on their hands and knees towards a fire light at the end. Joker was playing the ukulele as he lied across some of their backs. He noticed me and waved._

" _Meredith, we're all heading to the luau! Join us!" Joker said._

 _A pig went between my legs and carried me off with the sea of crawling thugs._

 _Joker started playing "Devil in Disguise" by Elvis Presley. "You know the lyrics, sing it!" He said, grinning._

 _I shrugged. "You look like an angel, walk like an angel, talk like an angel… but I got wise… You're the devil in disguise, oh yes you are, devil in disguise. Mmm hmm hmm…"_

 _I saw Lucyfer, Mark, and Tim riding on the backs of thugs way up front._

" _You fooled me with your kisses… you cheated and you schemed… heaven knows how you lied to me… you aren't the way you seemed…" I looked down at the pig I was riding. "Pig, let's go."_

 _It snorted and moved at the same leisurely pace._

 _Joker chuckled. "You need to apologize for what you said to him earlier, before he moves faster."_

 _For what? "Um… I'm sorry, Pig," I said._

" _Like Elvis," said Joker. His green hair was suddenly black and looked like Elvis' hair._

 _Frowning, I did my best Elvis impression. "I'm so sorry, little Piggy. I really wanna save my friends ya' know? So... let's go!"_

 _The pig squealed and started barreling through the thugs to reach my friends who seemed so far away. Then, the floor started disappearing as we reached the firelight. I jumped off the pig and reached the other side in a tumble._

 _Then, I heard a loud crunching noise and turned to see Killer Croc with an arm in his mouth. It looked like Lucyfer's arm. He grinned at me evilly and took out another bite._

I opened my eyes and sat up quickly.

Ollie was sitting at the edge of the bed eating celery. "What?" She replied, frowning.

"Are you watching me sleep?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I was waiting for you to wake up and I got hungry."

"Jesus, I thought Killer Croc was eating her arm," I said, rubbing my face.

"Oh," Ollie looked at the celery. "Sorry."

"What time is it?"

"Two in the afternoon."

"Really?" I asked amazed. My stomach grumbled.

"You need to eat something," said Ollie with a smirk.

"Is there any news?"

Ollie shook her head. "I've got a general perimeter but it's kinda big. Bryce has only gotten through a tenth of it while you were sleeping. No signs yet. Get up." She walked over to the kitchen.

I sighed and flopped back down.

"Come on! I got some gear and mac n' cheese."

After a pause, I pushed myself up and came over to the kitchen. That mac n' cheese smelled so good. I took a bowl and started eating as she showed me a backpack.

"I got some grenades," said Ollie, "smoke bombs, knives, a pistol, heat vision glasses, and the grappling-gun." She held the grappling gun up.

"Nice," I said with a smirk.

"Make sure you hang on tight. This thing's a doozy. Hell, I probably wouldn't let you have it if I didn't know your secret." Ollie put it back in the bag. "But you still feel pain so try not to fall…" She gazed at me for a moment and took off her glasses. "So far the S.T.A.R. lab testing has been inconclusive. You look normal as hell."

"Maybe it's magic," I said with a shrug.

Ollie rolled her eyes. "It's only considered magic because there isn't proper explanation. There might be some sort of masking going on at a molecular level. Could it possibly have happened while you were in the asylum?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing of that sort happened. I feel it must've started with the first suicide, because I survived freezing and bleeding to death." I glanced at my arms. "Otherwise, I feel like someone else would be using this… making armies or something."

Ollie nodded and put her glasses back on. "True… how do you feel about having it?"

"I hated it for a while before I met you guys," I said, staring at my bowl. "It was the only thing keeping me here… but after I joined the Drifters it felt like a gift. At the same time though, I am afraid of being open about it. If it slips out for even a moment, I could end up living a life as someone's experiment… a tool for destruction... It scares me so much."

Ollie gazed off, thinking to herself.

"So, show me what we're searching," I asked.

"Well, finish your food, put on some shoes. I'll be downstairs when you're ready to go." Ollie walked over to the stairs hidden by the father and daughter shadowbox.

"Okay."

She went down the stairs and closed the shadowbox door behind her.

I hurried up and put on Ollie's combat boots and jacket. Knives in my boots and bombs in pockets, I headed downstairs with the bag.

Ollie was waiting with the projector. It had a map of Gotham City and Ollie had circled Old Gotham."

I frowned and sat down.

"Since we're enemies with the Penguin, Bryce has agreed to check the Bowery," said Ollie. "I'll have you look around Industrial District when you're feeling up to it. Whenever you're tired, just come stay with me so you don't have to be alone at the cabin."

"Okay," I said.

"And… Bryce said he wanted to apologize for what he said earlier."

I frowned. "Seriously?"

"What did he say?"

I sighed. "He said that maybe if I hadn't been wasting time on saving those cops, I might've been able to save her."

Ollie grimaced. "That son of a bitch. I am going to chew his ear off." She looked at me concerned. "And you got that look on your face."

"What look?" I asked, confused.

"That worry… That question if he's right." She walked up to me. "You know he's wrong, right?"

"Yeah, but at the back of my mind…"

"It creeps in and eats away at you. Am I right?"

"Yes," I said with a nod. "I always get us out when the going looks tough."

"What matters is that we find them," said Ollie as she touched my shoulder. "And we will, once you get your ass moving and do all the hard work while I type in my house."

I smirked.

"Okay?" She asked me.

"Okay," I replied.

Ollie pulled out some photos of Lucyfer, Mark, and Tim. "Now, take these photographs get out there."

"Where did you get these?" I asked, looking at them. They were photos of us walking around in public.

"A friend… It's mostly my personal momentos, but those are copies. Try not to lose them."

I nodded and pulled my backpack on. Headed out into Gotham City via brown jeep to start my search of every place in the Industrial District. As I strolled around Sionis Steel Mill, I ran into a few Black Mask thugs.

"Hey, have you guys seen the Mad Hatter?" I asked.

"Who's asking?" One asked.

"Meredith Storm," I said, folding my arms.

"Who?"

"No no," said the other guy. "You're that thief with that crazy blonde bitch that took out the Joker gang, right?"

"Yeah," I said, frowning.

"Nice job... What you want the Hatter for?"

"Thanks, but that's my business. Now have you seen him or any of his rabbit-mask thugs?"

"No rabbits, just us."

"Okay…thanks." I walked by them and checked around the Steel Mill through the ventilation ducts just in case. Nothing except thugs. Black Mask was somewhere else.

I hopped outside and started checking other buildings in the Industrial District.

Bored and fatigued, I decided to test out my grappler-gun on a short building. I aimed and fired. The yank sent me flying over the roof straight into a window of the adjacent building faster than I could say "oh fuck".

I crashed through and slammed into some sort of console before landing on the floor with a umph. Sounded like something was powering down.

"What?!" A man shouted in anger.

"Oh thank God," said an older man who sounded familiar.

Groaning, I looked up and saw a man with a gray beard and head of hair who was secured to a chair. He looked like the doctor that helped Tim.

"Oh, you're a Drifter!" He exclaimed. "Please help me out of this thing."

I freed him and he got up.

Behind me was a screen with the Riddler on it. He had reddish hair, rectangle glasses, and a hat. There were question marks all over the room and some sort of mechanism above the chair. _A riddler trap of some sort?_

"Well well, if it isn't Meredith Storm?" The Riddler said, smirking at me.

"Why are you tangling with the Riddler, Doc?" I asked the doctor.

"Not exactly my choice," said the doctor. "He's trying to make me talk about patients. What are you doing here?"

"Accident," I frowned up to the Riddler. "Well, hang onto me and I'll get you out of here."

The doctor hung onto me and I grappled out of that room before the Riddler could say anything else. We landed out in the cobblestone alleyway with a thump. Then, we groaned as we got back up.

"I really need to practice this more often," I commented, looking at my grappler-gun.

"Thank you," said the doctor, steadying himself on the ground. "... how is your bald friend with the head damage?"

I sighed. "He's been having issues with multiple personalities ever since."

The doctor wiped his forehead. "Yes… the man is lucky to be alive… let alone conscious."

"I believe it," I said. "You need a ride home?"

"In a car? Yes. Otherwise, I think I am quite through this grappling madness. I might vomit next time."

"Okay, follow me." I led him out the alleyway and started heading back to my car. "Where do you live?"

"In Park Row…" He rattled off his address.

"Might have to give me directions once we're in the vehicle, Doc."

He nodded. "I'm Dr. Howard Wellburn by the way."

"Meredith Storm," I said nodding to him.

"I'm shocked you Drifters are still in town after the things you've done… Then again, a lot of people stick around after doing worse. You all just seemed more nomadic."

"We are… we just have reasons," I said, reluctant to explain the situation.

"Reasons, eh? I suppose it's none of my business. Anymore than that time you suddenly didn't need medical help?" He glanced down to my legs.

"I..." _Lie lie lie lie. Strain of truth to make a good lie._ "...I just don't like male doctors touching me," I said. "Mark did his best and I was happy with that."

"Well, you're walking pretty well, so I guess you're right," said Doc Wellburn, frowning to himself. "Did… something happen with a male doctor?"

"It's in my police record…" I shrugged. "Some people say that my retaliation was far worse than what he did to me... but I think death is kinder than letting someone live with the trauma."

"Must've been pretty bad," he said, glancing at me.

"I don't like talking about it."

"Ah well, let's talk about something else then… or nothing at all…"

"I don't care either way."

We walked in silence until we reached the jeep. He struggled with the door.

"You have to get in through the window," I said as I sat in the driver's side.

Doc Wellburn sighed and grunted as he lifted himself through the window.

 _Ginger beard Freddy was right… I should really get these doors off… Hell. Maybe I should just get a new vehicle altogether since Bruce Wayne rode in with me the other day…_

I drove Doc Wellburn home and pulled up in front of his house.

"Thank you again," he said. "Call any time you need a fix. Advocate has my number."

"You're welcome."

He struggled to crawl out the window and flopped on the pavement with an grunt. I drove off as he walked up the steps.

Returning to my search in the Industrial District, I continued to practice grappling onto roofs. I managed to land it right and Batman suddenly landed on the same roof.

"Damn, Dude," I commented, a little startled.

"What are you doing, Storm?" Batman asked.

"I liked your Robin's grappler-gun, so I got one," I said, smiling softly. "And I'm looking for the Mad Hatter… Bruce."

Batman narrowed his eyes at me. "Who have you told?"

"Believe it or not. I have told nobody about you and your antics because I actually respect what you're trying to do. I _really_ do. I just could never follow that. It's just simpler for me to be a thief for survival, and it was a thief that showed me compassion when I was homeless… I swear I'll take your secret to the grave if you just work with me on finding the Mad Hatter before he murders my friend."

"...No killing," Batman said, firmly. "No matter what."

I sighed. "Fine. I don't care for killing anyway. Any leads on the Hatter?"

"No. You?"

I showed him my map. "Lucyfer's phone is somewhere in Old Gotham, but we can't triangulate the exact location. There's some sort of interference. I've been in the process of combing the Industrial District. Black Mask's guys haven't seen Mad Hatter."

"We?" Batman asked.

I chuckled. "Well, there's more than Lucyfer and me…"

"The two men and Advocate-unless one of those men is Advocate."

 _Ollie is Advocate._ I sighed. "The two men are currently missing. Advocate is helping me. I got word from a homeless woman named Izzy that she saw them running after the rabbit carrying Lucyfer away. The thing is I didn't see them in the sewer for the brief moment I was awake and passed out again. If they haven't responded yet and their phones are nowhere on the radar, they might have been turned into rabbits."

"Who are they?" Batman asked.

I pulled out my photographs for Batman to see. "Mark and Tim. You met Mark before during the Clayface incident."

"They don't match anywhere in the system."

"Well," I said, considering it. "Mark had a clean identity before he became a Drifter. Advocate might've done something with the data and paperwork to make it harder to identify him. As for Tim… he never had a legal identity. He's technically a product of child enslavement that was left for dead. No idea what country he's from or race he is. He's also been having problems ever since the Joker took a bat to his head… a sort of dissociative identity disorder. It shouldn't be too much of a problem. He just might not respond to his name and have difficulties focusing or even speaking English sometimes."

"Who was the man in purple who rescued you from the police?"

"Lucyfer's cousin," I said, scratching my head. "He's combing through the Bowery, and he has absolute hatred for cops. Just about bit my head off when I told him I saved four. He's just looking out for Lucyfer. I mean I don't like him, but I can't turn down his help in a time like this."

Batman gazed off.

"...You don't begrudge us for going after the Joker, do you?" I asked.

"No, but at the same time I don't advocate _murder_... Why did the Drifter gang suddenly go after him now?"

I sighed. "Lucyfer blew a gasket. That key we stole was damaged by his acid flower while he was attacking me. Majority vote on revenge. I was in the minority. Things aren't normally so malicious. It's this town-this place is a magnet for bad things."

He nodded. "It is…" Batman looked at me. "You have a regenerative ability."

 _Shit…_ "Oh… I was hoping you didn't notice," I said, looking away.

"Grenade damage… Killer Croc biting a chunk out of your leg… It's not exactly hidden."

"Well, I try... Most of my friends don't even know. I'm scared what other people would try to do if they found out. I worry about what my friends might think of me."

"How did you get it?"

"It just showed up when I ran away from home and attempted suicide… Then, my life was never the same. Everything from the past was physically gone. I only wished for death until I was taken in by the Drifters." My phone started vibrating in my pocket. I answered it. "Yeah?"

"Hey," said Ollie. "Running out of gas yet?"

"Just about. I was just having a conversation with tall, dark, and scary. He's willing collaborate with us."

"What?"

"Yeah, Mad Hatter needs to be found, but I can't kill him. Is there anyway we can combine efforts, Advocate?"

"Perhaps I can better track the signal," said Batman.

"He might be able to track the signal," I added.

"Pfft," said Ollie. "Who does this pointy-eared loony think I am? A librarian? If _I_ can't track them, nobody will."

I sighed. " _Advocate_ , you will always be the golden goose, but we're pressed for time. We gotta set pride aside if we want to find them."

She groaned. "Put him on."

"Okay."

I handed the phone to Batman, who frowned as he listened to Ollie. "...Let me connect you with Oracle-Oh…... I'll let her know…..." He handed the phone back to me.

"Hello?" I said, listening to the phone.

"Meredith, I'll have you know that I've have been battling with this _Oracle_ ever since the Drifters came to Gotham," said Ollie, very annoyed. "She's been trying to get into my mainframe, and I've been trying to get into hers. Right now, I have to firewall the fucking Riddler, too."

"Oh yeah, I ran into him earlier. I overestimated the grappling-gun and crashed into one of his traps… but I'll tell you more about that later. I'm sorry."

"Well, it's a little fun to be honest. I keep throwing ads and games at him. I'm mostly peeved about this Oracle… Granted, we do exchange information back and forth… It's one of those weird friend and enemy relationships."

"Frenemies?" I suggested gazing to the blue skyline. It was twilight.

"That just sounds silly. Just call her my friendly adversary… anyway, can't believe you're working with the Bat on this. Shouldn't he be trying to turn you in?

I turned. "Sometimes, you can reason with him if you try."

"I guess. Damn."

"I'll talk to you later." I hung up and looked over for Batman.

He was gone.

"Huh, nose to the grindstone," I commented, looking around the buildings for him.

For several days, Bryce, Batman, and I combed Old Gotham. The Joker and several thugs barely managed to survive what the newspapers called "Bringing the Fun House Down". Any survivors were in critical condition with many broken bones. A few were comatose. I searched for long hours and came home to Ollie to pass out. She did her best to encourage and cheer me up, but worry was slowly burning me out.

On the sixth day, I finally found Lucyfer's cell phone around the Amusement Mile. It was by an old abandoned building. Cautiously, I entered and discovered a lot of foliage was growing inside. Parts of the floor was missing. The plants swayed a bit.

 _Poison Ivy…_

"Hello? Poison Ivy?" I called. "It's Meredith Storm?"

Suddenly, a vine wrapped around my waist and pulled me inside. The door slammed shut and the vine lifted me through several holes until I reached Poison Ivy's floor. Her hair was bright red and her eyes glowed green. She was by some large flower pods that were big enough to eat a person. "I'm surprised to see you, Meredith," she purred with a soft smile as she sat on a rather large toadstool. "Have a seat." She indicated to a gigantic toadstool by her.

"Um, thanks…" I touched the toadstool making sure it was steady enough for my weight and sat down. "Where's Harley Quinn?"

"Oh, she left," said Poison Ivy, rolling her eyes. "She went to see her _puddin'_ in the hospital. While she might loathe you and your friends, I honestly do not care. It was a decent attempt at killing that psychopath. Whose idea was it?"

"Lucyfer," I said adjusting my sitting position. "She probably hates Joker as much as Harley loves him."

"Interesting… What brings you my way?" Poison Ivy asked.

"Several of my friends including Lucyfer have been taken by the Mad Hatter," I explained. "I found Lucyfer's phone by this place and was wondering if you or your plants saw anything."

"Ah yes, Mad Hatter requested some toadstools for his new hideout. I refused him of course."

"Did he say _where_ he was hiding?" I asked.

"Perhaps… but perhaps you could do a favor for me?" She asked, smirking.

"What's the favor?" I asked with a raised brow.

"I would like you to steal my seeds from the GCPD evidence. That's all you would have to do."

I frowned. "Okay... Anything distinguishing about those seeds so I know which ones you want?"

"Let me give you something to help you." She walked over to an area and picked up a short vine with a pink flower the size of a hand. It coiled around her arm like a snake, looking around with the flower head that was opening and closing a bit.

"Could you be a dear and help her locate the seeds I want?" Ivy asked it. "...thank you." She reached out her arm to me and I held out my arm nervously. The vine slithered across her arm and coiled around my arm. The flower brushed its petals against my face.

"Don't worry. It won't bite… much." Poison Ivy walked by me and sat back down on the toadstool. "The faster you get those seeds, the faster you will regain your friends, Meredith."

I nodded and the big vine coiled around me again, taking me back to the door. Then, it slammed the door behind me. I looked at the little vine, and it seemed to look at me with it's flower head. _A little conspicuous._ "All-righty then, little vine," I said. "Let's go."

I headed over to the GCPD and grappled to the top. Carefully, I slipped in through the door and got into the ventilation shaft. It was like riding a bicycle. I reached the evidence room and the flower hopped off me, slithering on the floor. _It's like a snake-hound for plants or something._

It led me to an area in the corner where the seeds were being kept. I opened the locker up and found several drawers with number labels. Quickly, I opened and closed them until the little vine reacted. It dove into the drawer and coiled around a box.

I picked up the box and the little vine coiled around my arm again. "That was easy," I commented." I closed the drawer with my foot and locked up the locker. Carefully, I hefted the box into the ventilation and headed to the elevator shaft to go down into the sewers.

I went through the coroner's and carefully headed down into the sewers. After I escaped the sewers, I reached my vehicle six blocks away and set the box in the passenger seat. The vine wrapped around the box again as I reached for the driver's side door.

All the sudden, I felt a man grab me from behind and put a blade to my neck. "Shh," he hissed. "It will all be over soon, my little zombie," he said creepily.

 _UGHGH! ZSASZ!_ I stomped his foot and smacked my head into his nose.

Zsasz let me go, and I slammed him into the ground.

"Don't ever touch me again, you freak!" I snarled at him as he lied on the ground.

Zsasz groaned and struggled to his feet. He was white and completely hairless. There were various tally marks on his body to indicate how many people he has killed over the years. There were four scars on his forehead. He wore shorts and no shoes. Blood ran down from his broken nose to his chin and dripped onto his chest.

"More fight in you than I expected," he commented. "Don't you want to die?"

"Not anymore," I said, narrowing my eyes. "You're the one who wants to die, and I will kill you if you don't leave me alone."

Zsasz touched the blood on his chin. "So you seek to take my place? You can try, Miss Storm, and you will die. You will die." He licked the blood around his mouth.

 _I will enjoy this too much after you made Cassidy take time off._ "For knowing my name, you seem to know nothing about me."

He lunged at me with his knife and I grabbed his knife arm to twist it. Zsasz turned around as I did so and I broke his arm.

Victor Zsasz screamed in pain, dropping his knife.

I kicked him into the wall and he fell to the ground. Zsasz didn't seem to be sure if he wanted to hold his head or his arm.

Then, I picked up the knife he dropped. It wasn't actually a knife, but a handmade shiv. I walked over and kicked him in the ribs with my steel toes.

Instead of recoiling in pain, Zsasz leapt to his feet and tackled me to the ground. We rolled around the ground. He struggled to get his knife while holding my neck with his hand connected to a broken arm. I struggled to get him off of me and try to stab him. Blood from his nose dripped onto my face whenever he was on top of me.

Suddenly, the little vine wrapped around his neck and started strangling him. He gasped and grasped at his neck. I punched his broken arm and headbutted him.

Zsasz got off of me, writhing in pain and unable to cry in pain. He ripped the vine in two and threw it aside. I got on him and stabbed him in the chest.

He coughed up blood as I hit a lung. His eyes were wide, not believing it.

I dragged the blade across as he grabbed my hands. "One for you," I snarled at him. Then, I yanked the blade out and tossed it aside.

Gently, I picked up the broken little vine as it curled up on the ground. It was as if it was in pain. It was missing a few petals.

 _Ivy's gonna be pissed._

Sighing, I tried to bring the broken ends together. _Fuck, what do I do?_ I found some gauze tape and a pen. Carefully, I splinted it and taped the broken ends together. "Let's get you to Ivy." I drove back to Ivy's and the plant took me upstairs again.

Poison Ivy blanched as she saw the broken vine. "Oh God, what happened?!" She asked, taking it from me. Ivy looked like she was about to cry.

"Zsasz attacked me," I said with a sigh. "I'm so sorry."

She seemed to be listening to the plant and noticed the tape and pen on it.

"I'm not sure that's what you for a broken plant, but I didn't know what else to do."

She set the vine back in it's place and embraced me. "Thank you so much, Meredith."

"Ah, you're welcome," I said in surprise, hugging her back.

Poison Ivy let go and approached the box. She opened it up and gazed at packets of seeds. "It's good to know I can rely on someone around here."

"I do my best," I said with a nod. "Poison Ivy-"

"Ivy, please," she purred.

"Ivy, the address, please?"

"Of course. He's hiding out at an abandoned, doll factory not far from Chinatown. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you." I started walking over to the edge where the large vine was.

"If you don't find them, feel free to drop by again," said Ivy. "Girls should stick together."

I nodded to her, and the vine took me back down to the main entrance. As the doors closed behind me, I sighed with relief. _Man, it's humid in there._

Anxiously, I headed over the old, doll factory Ivy told me about.

 _It's been a week… She might be dead…_

 _No! I won't believe it for a moment… Lucyfer is too strong… She can't-I won't until I find her…_

I pulled up to the factory with my lights off and parked nearby. All the lights were off inside the old building. It was two stories high and some of the windows were broken. I hopped out of my jeep and approached the building. There was a rusty chain and padlock on the doors. I picked the padlock open and quietly removed the chain. When I opened the groaning and squeaky doors, I looked inside with my flashlight to see some sort of rotting assembly line. Vats of plastic or whatever were in a far corner, There were also pieces of dolls strewn over the floor: limbs, eyes, heads, bodies without heads.

 _Macabre… The making of a villain's hideout…_

As I stepped inside, I heard the skittering of a rat. It ran out of the building between my legs.

I shook my head and put on my heat vision glasses. The main floor was pretty cold. I looked upstairs and saw heat signatures. _Homeless people… or the Hatter…_ Taking off the glasses, I headed toward the rusty stairs on the left corner. I noticed some steps were missing. _I'm not sure I'm comfortable using the grapple-gun here…_

I took a step and continued upstairs cautiously. A few steps groaned under my weight, but they seemed to hold up for the most part. As I reached the sixth step from the top, a step broke on me and fell down to the main floor. My hands clenched around the rail, hearing the echoes around the room. _Maybe I should've just grappled onto the roof…_

I heard a high-pitched man laughing behind the door ahead. "Oh Alice, you're such a dear! I'm so glad to have you here!" said Mad Hatter.

My stomach dropped and I carefully approached the door. I carefully pushed it open and saw a bunch of rabbit thugs sitting at a long table. The Hatter and Lucyfer were sitting around the middle and drinking tea. Lucyfer was wearing the Alice outfit, smiling in the way she did when she was drunk. _He's drugged her somehow..._

 _I really ought to alert Ollie so she can tell Bryce… Nah, fuck Bryce. I don't need his help… But Batman… yeah, better send Oracle a message._

I texted Oracle to send Batman to the Doll Factory.

 _How do I do this?... I could barge in and fight off the thugs… or I could do the same trick I did last time... use a rabbit mask to get close to him…_

I opened up the door and stepped out in the open while Mad Hatter was drinking his tea.

The Hatter spat out his tea. "You!" He pointed at me.

Lucyfer looked at me, confused.

"Didn't think you remembered me, Tetch," I said folding my arms. "It's time for Alice to come home."

"It's simply not done," he said squeakily. "We're having too much fun! Aren't we, Alice?"

"Yes," said Lucyfer/Alice with a soft smile. "Join us, Friend. Have some tea."

"Yes, yes, sit with us!" Hatter said. "No need to fuss. Any friend of Alice's is a friend of the Hatter's.

"No need to fuss?" I repeated, incredulous. "She's been gone for a week! I was worried sick!"

Lucyfer/Alice frowned.

"No no no no, I'm not a kidnapper," Hatter insisted. "I simply returned Alice where she belongs. but if you won't drink your tea, that won't still well with me. You really should mind the rules of the host. It is bad manners if you don't.

"If you don't give her back, I will show you really bad manners and smash your hat _again_ ," I said, growing impatient.

Mad Hatter chuckled at me. "Gentlemen, get to your feet. Help her find a seat."

The rabbit thugs stood up, and I threw down smoke bombs to give me cover. I attacked thugs left and right, ripping off their masks. None of them were Tim or Mark. As I turned to attack the Hatter, I noticed he had set out a metronome. It clicked rhythmically. For some reason, I felt really funny as I looked at it. Lights flashed. Shaking my head, I moved toward him.

"You look rather exhausted after searching for Alice for a week," said Mad Hatter. "Why don't you rest for a while, hmm?"

My head suddenly went dark. I couldn't see.

" _What?" I looked around and saw I was in Wonderland._

 _The Mad Hatter laughed. "Down, down, the rabbit hole you go!"_

 _I started running through it, hearing a loud ticking in the distance. I climbed up a tower and shimmied along the side to keep going up. I didn't appreciate the heights._

" _Your friend had a strong mind, too, once… but I got her to remember who she really was… my Alice."_

" _She's not your Alice," I said. "She's Lucyfer of the Drifter Gang… and I am taking her back, you raving lunatic." I climbed and climbed to reach the top of the tower._

 _He giggled. "Ah but how can you steal her if you can't even save yourself?"_

 _If Lucyfer can't even fight him, how can I?_

 _I can and I must._

 _I reached the top of the tower and saw I need to zipline across a wire to a house of cards, floating above an abyss. Sighing, I removed my belt and slid down it to the other side._

 _I walked through the house of cards and fought off rabbit thugs that came after me. As I reached the main floor. I saw five different doors._

" _Ooh which way is where?" Hatter asked._

 _I studied the doors and noticed a rabbit on one of the knobs. Quickly I opened that one up and saw a bridge of cards leading up to a ticking, clock tower. I ran along the bridge of cards and it started falling down. The card ahead of me dropped and I wasn't fast enough to jump._

" _No," I said as I started falling. I tried to grapple but the entire bridge was falling down._

 _No! It can't end like this! It can't!_

 _It won't. This is MY mind! "Jabberwock!" I shouted._

 _The beast rose from the darkness and caught me on its back. As I hung onto its neck. It flew around the Wonderland, roaring and burning down the house of cards._

" _What?! I do declare that's not fair!" The Hatter shouted. "Who do you think you are?"_

" _I am Meredith Storm! Beware the Jabberwock, my son!" I snarled. "To the clocktower!"_

 _The Jabberwock growled and flew over to the clock tower._

" _Ah, but the vorpal blade will be my aid!" The Mad Hatter said. A knife suddenly floated in front of the clock tower._

" _Faster! Faster!" I shouted._

 _The Jabberwock roared and blew fire are the vorpal blade as it flew at the clock tower._

 _I stood up on it's back with my knees bent. As the knife came flying at us, I jumped, ran across the blade, and crashed through the clocktower face._

I tackled the Mad Hatter and started punching the hell out of him and his hat.

"Alice! Help!" He cried.

Lucyfer/Alice yanked me off of the Mad Hatter. Shoving her back, I stepped on his hat.

Lucyfer blinked for a moment and looked at me, confused. "Meredith?"

I threw my arms around her.

"What is going on?" Lucyfer asked, hugging me back.

"The Mad Hatter kidnapped you and was controlling your mind, Lucyfer."

"Lucyfer?" She asked.

I let go of her and studied her face.

"My name is Alice."

I chuckled. "Stop kidding around, Lucyfer."

She shook her head. "I'm not much for kidding and my name is Alice."

I stared at her. "Don't scare me like that, Man. I've been through hell and back trying to save your sorry ass."

Lucyfer wrung her hands. "I'm sorry, but my name is really Alice. I know nothing of this Lucifer person…"

"It's your nickname," I said, startled. "You gave it to yourself because you hate being called Angel-That's your real name… Angel Smith."

"I'm grateful you saved me from that madman, but my name is Alice Liddell."

"You're serious?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, very serious.

My heart sank. "He must've really gotten to your head." I put my hands over my eyes. "I'm so sorry I couldn't find you sooner-but wait? You remembered my name! How can you be Alice Liddell and know my name?"

She shrugged. "I don't know… I just remember you shouting it I think."

"You have streaks of pink in your hair," I pointed out. "They used to be red, but they've been fading. You got gunshot scars all over you because you've gotten into a lot of trouble over the years. Your fingertips are rough and calloused from playing bass guitar.

Lucyfer/Alice looked at her hair and fingertips. She frowned. "And you say I don't remember because of Mad Hatter?"

"Yes! And I'm a good friend and coworker of yours." I pulled out photos from my pocket. "This is us with our friends Mark and Tim."

She looked at them and shook her head, biting her lip. "I can't remember any of this, Meredith."

"That's okay. I'm gonna get you help." I put the photos away. "Help you remember."

"What if I don't?" She asked, scared.

"We'll all be there for you. Me, Mark, Tim, Ollie, and your Papa, Ma, and your Cousin Bryce. Hell, Tim is having memory issues of his own. We won't abandon you. I promise."

Lucyfer/Alice sighed. "Okay. I trust you."

"Okay. Let's go."

"Alice, don't leave me!" Mad Hatter said.

"Shut up, you!" I shouted at him. "She is not your Alice!"

"Kill her!" Mad Hatter shouted.

"There's no-"

Suddenly, Lucyfer/Alice jumped on my back and started strangling me with her arm

"No!" I scathed, struggling to get her off.

"I'm not doing this. He's making me," whimpered Lucyfer/Alice, panicking. "Oh God, I'm so sorry, Meredith!"

"Fight it," I said, struggling to breathe. I slammed her into a wall, trying to get her off of me. She was not letting go and things were starting to go black.

Weakly, I flopped on my back, using all my weight on her. She let go of me. Immediately, I rolled away from her and struggled to catch my breath.

Suddenly, Lucyfer/Alice came at me with a knife and stabbed me in the chest. I gasped in surprise. _Where did she get a knife?_

She stabbed me repeatedly while crying and apologizing profusely.

I felt her hit a lung as she left the knife in my chest. Blood gushed out of me rapidly and I coughed up more.

Lucyfer/Alice covered her eyes as she continued to cry over me. "Forgive me. Oh God, forgive me!"

"It's okay," I said weakly, a few tears running down my face. "It's gonna be okay." I felt so dazed and weak.

The Mad Hatter stood up, holding his broken hat. "That's all well and done. Time for us to go, Alice." He approached her and put his hand on her back. "Dry your tears and stand. Let her alone."

"I will never forgive you," she snarled at him as she stood up. "You monster!"

" _YOU MONSTER!" I screamed at Dr. Giovanni._

Something snapped in my brain. Faster than anyone could think, I leapt up and attacked the Mad Hatter.. Crying out with bloodlust, I started punching him as hard as I could and he screamed. I did not let him get out a single audible word. Lucyfer/Alice only stood there and watched.

As Mad Hatter tried to fight back, I broke his arms one by one. It was then that his screams peaked and his voice broke. I continued beating him, blinded by my rage.

Suddenly, a pair of strong gauntlets grabbed my arms and ripped me off the Hatter. "Meredith, stop!" Batman shouted.

Instantly, I froze and looked at the unconscious Mad Hatter. His face was covered in blood and he seemed to be breathing weakly.

Lucyfer/Alice sat by the Hatter as she gazed at me, tears stained her face. She looked horrified.

I looked down. Blood was dripping off my hands. Tears were running down my face and I was breathing hard. "I'm-I'm sorry," I murmured with a sniff.

Batman touched my shoulders and turned me to look at me.

"I'm so sorry," I said, my voice trembling. I looked into Batman's blue eyes. "I had to stop him… She doesn't remember anything. He made her stab me. He was going to take her away again…" I struggled to speak and looked at the Bat symbol on his chest. "I-I couldn't let him," I whimpered before I started crying again. Shakily, I collapsed to the ground and he caught me. I cried against his symbol.

"I wish I could remember," Lucyfer/Alice whimpered. "I'm so sorry, Meredith. I didn't want to hurt you."

We all heard sirens coming to the doll factory.

"Arkham can help her, if given time," said Batman, setting me down. "Let me take her to the police."

"Okay," I said weakly, letting him go.

"Who is Arkham?" Lucyfer/Alice asked.

"It's a place… I went there once," I said with a tight voice. "But I have friends there in the female ward. I promise I will visit you and tell your parents so they can show you more pictures and stuff."

"But I stabbed you," she said, looking at my bloodied shirt.

I coughed and stood up. "I'll make it. Go with him." I crashed out a window and landed on the ground with a thump. Quickly, I ran off before I was spotted.

As I saw some cars coming, I grappled to the top of a building to get a better view of the police activity. Batman brought them a bloodied Mad Hatter and a confused Lucyfer/Alice.

I heard someone suddenly land on the roof. Turning, I saw it was Bryce. "Where's Angel?"

"They're taking her to Arkham," I said dismally, sitting at the edge of the roof.

" _What_?" He growled, tightening his jaw.

"The Hatter got to her head. She thinks her name is Alice."

"And you're just letting them take her?!"

"She tried to kill me as his behest!"

"I don't blame her," he said turning away from me, rubbing his temple.

"She needs professional help!"

He turned to me. "And that went so well for you, didn't it?"

I hit him across the face. "Fuck you, Bryce! I did everything I could, and I'm gonna make sure she gets through this!"

"Good!" He snarled at me. "Then, _you_ can tell Roy and Helen what happened to their daughter since you're in so much control!" He turned to walk away. Then, he suddenly shoved me over the edge. Before I could even think, I landed on some trash cans and bounced into the middle of a cobblestone alley.

I let out a long groan and lied there for a moment. Everything hurt. I closed my eyes. _As if I needed Bryce's help for feeling like shit about this. Lucyfer's deep in Wonderland and I can't find Mark and Tim… I'm out of tears to shed..._

Then, I heard a soft meow and purring. Opening my eyes, I saw a gray kitten stride over to me and rub against my face. I pet the kitten gently and it rubbed against my hand, mewing. "You hungry little guy? I'm hungry." I got up and picked him up with me, setting him on my shoulder. "Let's get food."

The cat nipped at my ear and hair, but I didn't care. I walked down to a convenience store along the way to the jeep.

"Hey, no pets," said the stout cashier, folding his arms.

I looked at him, frowning.

His eyes widened. "Jesus, you're covered in blood!"

I shrugged. _Too tired and depressed to give a fuck._

"You get out of here, or I'm calling the police!"

I approached him and set a fifty on the counter.

"I don't want your money! Get out, you crazy bitch!"

I set the cat on the counter and socked him in the face, knocking him out. The kitten meowed at me. Smiling softly, I set the kitty back on my shoulder. I continued around the store to pick up some cans of tuna, a sandwich, chocolate ice cream, water, a frisbee, and vodka.

Humming a random tune, I walked out and headed toward the jeep. I set the frisbee in the passenger side floor, filling it with water. Opened a can of tuna and set it next to the frisbee. I set the cat next to the stuff, and it started eating. I took a swig of vodka and dug into my food as well.


	5. Chapter 5: Is That Your Final Offer?

**CHAPTER FIVE: IS THAT YOUR FINAL OFFER?**

I lied on the couch in Ollie's basement, letting the gray kitten sleep on my chest as I explained everything to Ollie. Techno softly played in the background, so I could only hear a bass line.

Ollie shook her head at me. "Those sons of bitches... Bryce and the Hatter, both."

"And the cashier," I said, recalling how angry he was about the cat and the blood on my shirt.

"Yeah, him, too... Shit." She leaned back in her chair and took off her glasses. "We're right where we started, and someone has to tell Lucyfer's parents."

"Call them," I said, petting the kitten's soft fur. "Let's just get it over with."

Ollie sighed. "Okay." She dialed the number and called the Smith residence. "...Hello, this is Ollie… hi, yeah I know it's a little early, but I figured you'd... um… I gotta tell you something and you might not like it. Angel was kidnapped by the Mad Hatter about a week ago… Oh, Bryce told you?... Okay. I'll just tell you our findings. Meredith managed to find her and defeat the Mad Hatter… Yes, but there were some complications… Angel was brainwashed so she doesn't remember much of anything. He had her convinced that she was Alice-and he tried to make her murder Meredith-but Meredith fought back and got them to stop. She convinced Angel that things weren't as they seemed… And now um… Angel has been taken to Arkham Asylum-to help her remember… Don't cry... We'll get her out as soon as she's better. There just wasn't a ton of options at the time with Meredith's injuries and the cops closing in… Don't worry, Meredith and I have been to the asylum. Hell, Meredith has friends in the asylum that will probably look after Angel, right?" Ollie looked to me for reassurance.

I nodded.

"Meredith says 'yes'...Umm… why don't you talk to Meredith?" Ollie glanced to me, unsure and handed me the phone.

I listened to the phone and heard Helen Smith sniffing.

"This is Meredith," I answered reluctantly.

"Hello-Meredith," said Helen after a sob.

"It's gonna be okay… As long as we're all there for her during therapy, I'm sure she'll be up and at 'em at no time."

"Does Bryce know?" I heard Roy ask in the background.

"Yeah," I said bitterly. "He was pretty angry when I told him."

"Oh dear, he didn't do anything rash, did he?" Helen asked.

"He yelled and kinda pushed me," I said with a shrug. _...off a roof._ "I haven't heard back from him since… If you need me to go with you to the asylum, please call us up. I know the place can be a little daunting…"

"That's real sweet of you, Honey, but didn't you escape from it?"

"I got a disguise and I'm visiting her tomorrow. I'll remind her of you guys and give her a couple photographs, okay? Warm her up."

"Thank you, Meredith. I'm so glad Angel has nice friends like you. Please, excuse me."

"Sure. Talk to you later." I hung up and handed the phone back to Ollie. Sighing, I pet the little kitten.

"You did the best you could, Meredith," said Ollie, still holding the phone.

I nodded and shrugged. "And we have no idea where Mark and Tim are. For all we know, Killer Croc ate them."

"Hey, being realistically dismal is my job!" Ollie said jokingly, putting the phone away.

I shrugged. "Mine now."

"So... do you want to give up?"

"No… I'm just depressed."

"Well, you've had a long week and a few drinks," said Ollie as she walked back over to me. "Get a shower and some rest. We'll have a new game plan tomorrow, okay?"

I nodded.

"I'll take the kitten if you don't mind."

"His name is Chekov," I insisted.

"Chekov?... Okay. Let me take Chekov for a moment."

Hesitantly, I gave her Chekov. She cradled him, gently. "I'll get some stuff ordered for him. You go upstairs and I'll join you shortly."

I nodded and headed upstairs, dragging my feet a bit as I went to the master bathroom. Depressed, I avoided looking at the mirror and slowly discarded clothes. Holding my sides, I sat down on the shower floor after turning on the water. I stared at the tile as cold water ran down my goosebumped skin. Touching my abdomen, I noticed the stab wounds were nothing but bruising again.

 _I wish the scars would stay, remaining as symbols for my failure to them. Lucyfer, Mark, and Tim… They all had given me so much and I just want to give up like I always did… How can I have such selfish and cold thoughts for them? How could it even pass my mind when I care so much?_

I buried my face in my arms.

"Meredith? Are you all right?" Ollie asked, outside the bathroom. "You've been in there for a good while."

Blinking, I quickly stood up behind the curtain. "Yes, I just-got lost in thought." I turned off the shower. "I'll be right out."

"Okay." I heard Ollie's departing footsteps and dried off. When I returned to the bedroom in a t-shirt and underwear, she was sitting in the bed with little Chekov in her lap. Her expression seemed sad.

 _Odd… Usually, she stays downstairs and works… or sleeps… Maybe she just wanted to talk..._

"What thoughts are you having?" Ollie asked me as she looked at the kitten in her lap.

"Guilty ones," I said sadly.

She nodded. "Me too... I wish I could leave the house and help you. You always come home looking so drained and miserable."

I blinked, surprised. _She always seems to brush off everything._ "Sorry… I didn't think it would affect you, and I don't like faking what I feel. I thought you'd understand."

"I do, I just-I like to see you happy… Does that sound weird?"

"A little. Sounds like something my mom would say."

Ollie looked at me and smirked. "Probably something my dad would say… when did we get old?"

Smiling a little, I shrugged and sat down next to her.

"Do you miss them?" Ollie asked.

"My parents?" I replied.

"Yeah?"

I scratched my ear. "Kinda… yeah. Mostly my mom…"

"I was always a Daddy's girl myself."

"I used to be, but he kinda got less fun when I grew up."

"My dad got extra crispy."

I glanced over to Ollie, surprised and grimacing. _Because he was hit by a bazooka..._

She was smiling at me. "If there's one thing Lucyfer's taught me, it's to have a fucking sense of humor."

Chuckling, I shook my head at her. "Wow." I gazed up to the starry ceiling with the dreamlike painting.

"You like that ceiling?" Ollie asked me.

"Yeah. It's nice."

"Notice anything about it?"

I shrugged. "It's similar to those other dreamy paintings in the house?... The texture is kinda different from the other ceilings, I think?"

"Yes, it's actually a large painting stolen from a museum in Metropolis. It has been carefully secured to my ceiling. The artist Felix Webber called it _Olivia's Other Opinion_."

 _Interesting title… Her dad was obviously a painter… her name is Ollie..._

"Is your name Olivia?" I asked.

"Yep," said Ollie.

"Is your dad Felix Webber?"

"Yep. Best dad in the world. Hands down."

"I believe you... I like _Olivia's Other Opinion_ ," I commented with a soft smile.

"He made this in response to my cynicism," Ollie continued. "One of the last paintings he ever made… Lucyfer gave it to me as a gift and Mark helped her out when he joined the crew. When Mark realized what it meant to me, he started crying even more than I did. I think he only meant to do a few deals with us to get rich quick for whatever end he had in mind, but after that he just stuck around with us for some reason… That man… Mother Mark." Ollie smirked to herself.

I chuckled. "Mother Mark."

"Well… anyway. I miss my bed but don't necessarily want to kick you out. So let's sleep together… unless you can't."

"It's fine. You're a girl."

"Sometimes I feel like a boy with these," she commented, looking at her chest.

"Your breasts are lovely, Ollie," I said.

Ollie snorted. "You're just saying that. Yours could eat mine."

I felt myself blush as I lied down. "Okay, let's go to sleep."

"How can I sleep if your breasts can eat mine?" Ollie asked as she lied down beside me. "I could wake up tomorrow as a boy."

"Well, you can have mine then. Sometimes I wouldn't mind being a boy-or well-flat-chested. A big chest can be a really big pain."

She poked my breast. "But they look so fun."

"Ollie!" I said, blushing further.

"Sorry, sorry, no poking the mammary glands… basic social rule… but at least you're bemused and not thinking guilty thoughts."

I sighed and lied on my back.

Chekov crawled from her lap, did a slow 360, and lied on my chest.

"Chekov agrees with me," said Ollie.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I actually prefer to lie on my side." I turned onto my side and Chekov rolled onto the bed next to me.

"Didn't think that would offend you. I'm sorry.

I closed my eyes. "Just a bit. I'm tired."

"Okay."

We were quiet for a long while.

"Meredith?" Ollie asked.

"Mmm?" I grunted.

"I can't sleep."

"Me either."

"TV?"

"TV," I confirmed.

She picked up the remote and started flipping through channels. Then, she stopped on a black and white TV show. Her usual cool expression suddenly became excited.

Ollie spoke with the narrator as daring and heroic music played in the background. "'...Those with evil hearts beware!… For out of the darkness comes the Graaaay Ghost!'" The Gray Ghost title showed up on the screen. It starred Simon Trent. A man with a fedora, goggles, and a cape showed up fighting bad guys in the opening credits.

"This episode… The Haunted Doll!" The narrator said.

"You mind?" Ollie asked.

I shook my head. "I hear it's good."

"Good? It's the best!... I mean not all the effects are great as nowadays and they're reruns… but it's way better than _Love That Baby_ … you know with that Baby Doll character?"

"Oh yeah!" I remembered. "She's the one that can't age past six years old in real life?"

"Pretty much… What's-her-name had a mental breakdown after a failed acting career. Nothing went well after she quit _Love That Baby_."

I saddened. "I think I heard that, too. Poor thing."

We watched _The Gray Ghost_ rerun marathon. I couldn't remember falling asleep.

I woke up the next afternoon and Ollie had gone downstairs with Chekov.

I got dressed and entered the kitchen. A box of pizza was sitting on the counter. It was a little cold, but that was okay. I ate a few slices and headed downstairs.

"...Okay look! Oracle or whoever you are!" Ollie said in annoyance with her headset on. "She had a long fucking night and left money on the counter. We still have two guys that are missing with no leads at all. Imagine if two of your bird boys were still missing and one's got brain damage!… Go fuck yourself. We don't need your shit or your help." She slammed a key, hanging up.

"Everything going okay?" I asked, approaching Ollie.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," said Ollie, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "This little bitch was giving me shit about the quote on quote _robbery_ that occurred last night-and apparently you nearly killed Victor Zsasz."

"Oh," I commented, scratching my head.

Ollie spun around and stood up. "Come riding in on your high horse like a pretty princess," she muttered. "They would be glad as hell if he actually died. Now change your clothes. You're meeting up with the patient."

"Oh right!"

Ollie helped me put on a strawberry blonde wig after I changed into a blouse and blouse. I got glasses and freckles on my face. Then, Ollie threw gloves and an umbrella at me.

"I got you a truck up front," said Ollie.

"Why do I need an umbrella?" I asked, confused.

"It is fucking pouring. That's why." Ollie opened the door for me and I realized she was right. "Don't forget these photos and ID." She stuck them in my pocket. I headed outside with an open umbrella and drove off in the truck to see Lucyfer.

Casually, I drove up to the Visitor Center. The guard slid me a form and I filled it out the best I could.

"Okay, Mary Smith," said the guard. "Should be about five minutes. Head to the back, please. Booth number five."

"Thank you, Sir," I replied. "And I have a few photographs for her. If that's all right?"

"Show me."

I pulled them out from my pocket and showed him. It was a casual photo of the gang, a family photo, and an album photo with Lucyfer and her band.

The guard grunted, flipped the photos, and read the backs. "That should be fine, but the doctor might have to clear it before she can keep them."

"Oookay," I said with a shrug. "Mind if I show her before you clear them?"

"That should be fine." He handed them back to me.

"Thanks." I walked down to booth five and sat down in front of the glass. Patiently, I waited and then Lucyfer arrived in cuffs. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a braid. She sat down in front of me, frowning.

"My name's Mary Smith," I said. "We've met before." I took off my glasses.

She blinked and her smile grew a bit. "I remember your face… but from where?"

"We're cousins on your father's side." I put my glasses back on.

Her expression saddened. "...I'm surprised you came after what happened."

"I know you didn't mean it."

"But does that really excuse it? I hurt you… I almost…" Lucyfer shook her head. "I'm so sorry."

I touched the glass. "I know. It's okay… Um… what would you like me to call you?"

She sighed. "My doctor keeps calling me Angel… but I feel like the worst kind of angel. I feel that name Lucyfer is well-deserved with the way I've acted. At the same time, I feel like that's an insult to the person you once called friend."

"Lucy, then," I said. "You're still my friend and I will see you through this."

Lucy frowned. "What if I don't ever remember? What if... I don't want to be who I was anymore?"

"We will always have your back, Lucy. It's your life. If you want to change or quit, it's up to you."

She touched the glass where my hand was. "You're too kind."

"I get that a lot." I took down my hand. "I also got some photos for you that your doctor might let you keep."

"She's a kind woman. I think she will as long as they're not perverse."

I snorted and put the picture of the gang up to the glass. "The names are on the back in case you forget."

Lucy scrutinized the photo. "Is the blonde me? You said I had red streaks."

I nodded, pointing above the names in the back. "Mark is this one. Sharpshooter, funny, and very motherly."

"Is he gay?"

I chuckled. "Not that I know of. He just worries about everyone a lot."

"Okay. The bald man?"

"That's the ninja... Tim. He's got brain damage so he sometimes switches into a different identity. The two men are currently missing after that incident where the Drifters almost killed the Joker. Did they tell you about that?"

"Yes," she said guiltily, "… No leads?"

I shook my head. "None. They might be dead."

Lucy's dark eyes saddened. "And that leaves Meredith alone…"

I nodded. "Well, there's one friend not in the picture... Advocate." _Reluctant to say Ollie's name in this situation._

"How come?" She asked, frowning.

"The Advocate tends to only be with us in spirit as intelligence… very private. I'll just wait for you to remember on that one."

"Is there anything you can tell me?" Lucy asked.

"Not under these circumstances."

"Okay. What was I like around these people?"

"You were a leader of sorts. Headstrong. Sometimes you'd butt heads with them because they all have their own ideas. Everyone argued pretty fervently over going after the Joker after that time the gang stole the key to the city. You were very angry."

"Why?"

"You've had a long running grudge against him." I showed her an album picture of her in R.I.P. DREAMS. "You were the bassist in this band. You did a charity concert in Gotham. The Joker showed up with his thugs and 200 people died. All because you guys had a song called "I Hate Clowns". Ever since that night, that song became your personal anthem. Mark and Tim were on your side. Advocate and Meredith opposed."

Lucy's brows furrowed, processing all this. "You were the smart ones I guess."

I shrugged. "Hard to know for sure sometimes."

"What's that last picture?"

"Oh, the family you grew up with." I held up the family photo of her, her parents, and Bryce.

"My parents and big brother?" She asked, not sure.

"Cousin actually, but he became more of a big brother when he lost his parents. Bryce has a similar personality to your old self. He hates cops as much as you hated clowns."

"Do they know what happened? My family?"

"Your parents love you a lot and so does Bryce. Parents were a little sad, but Bryce… Bryce was pretty upset when I told him."

"Did he hurt you?" Lucy asked, deeply concerned.

"He yelled a lot and shoved me," I admitted. _Off a roof._

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize for his actions," I said, shaking my head. "They're not your fault."

"I still can help but feel blame for the pain you've been through," Lucy said, with her head bowed. "How do you put up with all this crap?"

I leaned forward to the glass. "Joining the Drifters has brought me some of the best times of my life, Lucy. Before this, I was in a dark place of worthlessness and homelessness. I had no hope at all for happiness…. You guys taught me how to live… reminded me I was worth something… and I will never forget that."

Lucy gazed at me, surprised and perhaps even startled by my passion.

"And speaking of friendship. How are the ladies treating you?"

"Well… a few don't like me… many are quite strange. The name Meredith Storm is written in several places… They don't seem to be forgetting her either… Should I ask?"

I shrugged. "If you want?"

"Why is Meredith Storm infamous here?" Lucy asked.

I hesitated. "Perhaps another time… I've given you a great deal of information to mull over… Who's your doctor?"

"Gretchen Whistler, I think. She's German or something."

"She's good," I commented with a nod.

Lucy frowned. "Are there bad ones?"

I shrugged. "Not that I know of. There used to be some pretty bad ones… but keep an eye out just in case. Arkham can sometimes be a magnet for strange happenings and misfortunes. If you feel like you're in danger, let me know. We'll get you transferred out immediately."

"Okay… Why have me here at all if there's a risk?"

"This place can be really good for you if you go through the right channels… It's like how you can enjoy the ocean as long as you watch out for the riptide."

"What's the riptide here?" Lucy pressed.

"Bad doctors and patients… I'll be visiting pretty often, so let me know if anything is ever slightly wrong or if you need anything. Otherwise, the others remember Meredith Storm."

"Okay. What if they don't believe me?"

I lifted the sleeve of my short-sleeved blouse and revealed my blue rose tattoo. "I'm sure they all remember this, and hopefully you'll have the photograph."

I heard a guard walking up and I hid my tattoo away.

"Sorry," he said to us, "time's up."

"Hang in there, Lucy," I said, touching the glass.

Gazing at my eyes, Lucy touched the glass where my hand was. Silently, we parted. I handed the photographs back to the guard and signed out. I opened up my umbrella at the entrance and headed out. As I walked through the rain to my new truck, I felt my heart growing heavier with each step.

 _Is it so wrong to hand Lucy off to professionals because I don't know what else to do? Should I have just found a proper facility that's nicer and not necessarily for criminals?_

My phone started ringing as I reached the truck. I didn't even realize I took a phone with me. Sighing, I picked it from my pocket and answered. "Yeah?"

"How'd it go?" Ollie asked.

I hopped inside the truck. "Okay I guess." Quickly, I closed up the umbrella, tossed it in the passenger side, and closed the door. "Ollie?"

"Yes, Meredith?"

"Did I do the right thing?... Handing her off to the authorities like this? Should we get her out and find some nicer place in Canada or something?"

Ollie sighed. "In regards to memory problems, it's better to be in a place where you can pick up where you left off. Gotham is home and her parents are here-we're here. Arkham Asylum has also cleaned up its act a lot lately with the improved funding. It's different from what it was for you and me. No sketch doctors… better security… I mean this Dr. Young is looking to be pretty revolutionary for the place."

I shrugged. "As long as Lucy gets better…"

"What did you guys talk about?"

"The gang… I kinda left you out until she got a better hold of her memories. Talked about how we were and her family."

"I appreciate you leaving me out," said Ollie. "You feeling all right?"

"Bittersweet."

She nodded. "Well, you ready for the next problem?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Okay. My best idea is to work our sources and try to narrow things down, comb the city. It's gonna be even worse than looking for Lucyfer since we have no idea where they went… Bryce is out… and the Bat might be looking for you. Wait for the rain to clear out and I think we'll start looking in Old Gotham again to try and pick up their trail somehow…"

"Yep," I said, "See you at home." I hung up and drove through the rain.

For the next several weeks, I searched a great deal of Gotham. Each dawn, I came home to Ollie, dragging my feet. She would try to cheer me up and tell me that 'tomorrow is another day' and stuff like that. In my heart, I knew she hardly believed it herself. I would offer to sleep on the couch instead of her bed, but she insisted that it was fine. We'd watch Gray Ghost reruns and fall asleep. With her around, I worried and hated myself less. She'd always keep me focused and refresh my brain the best she could each day. Without her encouragement, I probably wouldn't be able to get out of bed.

Occasionally, I visited Lucy in Arkham Asylum to make sure she was okay and getting better. She was slowly starting to remember things again with each time I saw her, but I was starting to question if she'd ever be herself again. I went with her parents when they were called in by the doctor to have a family appointment. It would be one without the glass between us.

Dr. Whistler and Lucy waited for us in a circle of chairs. Lucy's hair hardly had any pink now. The doctor was an older woman with her silvered brown hair in a bun. Her glasses were squarish and she smiled softly.

Lucy gazed at us and smiled at me. "Cousin Mary, you came with my parents," she said happily.

I cracked a smile to hide my weariness.

"Ma, Papa?" Lucy asked her parents, Helen and Roy.

"Yes, Sweetheart," said Helen, her voice shaking a bit. "Can I hug you?"

"Of course!" Lucy embraced her warmly.

"Oh my little girl, my little girl."

I looked at Dr. Whistler who looked at me. Looking away, I starting to think about my family and friends from home. _The people that must miss me so… or maybe they've forgotten me altogether like Lucyfer did…_

Roy embraced Lucy with Helen. Lucy embraced me for the first time in a good while.

We all sat down and discussed Lucy's therapy. I mostly gazed off, thinking of Mark and Tim as well as the possibility of Lucy never fully regaining herself. She seemed pretty adamant about not returning to crime.

"Mary, you're so distant today," commented Lucy.

I cracked a smile again. "Sorry, I was never good at group conversation. Besides, I wanted you to talk with your parents. I'm mostly standing by as support until you remember."

"You're practically a secondary psychiatrist to Gretchen," Lucy said nodding to Dr. Whistler. "You're both so wonderful… Why didn't you become a psychiatrist, Mary?"

"I felt it would take an emotional toll on me," I said honestly.

"It's not a career path for the light of heart," said Dr. Whistler with a nod, "but it takes heart to make a difference."

Afterward, Roy, Helen, and I embraced Lucy individually and headed to our respective homes.

On the way out, I noticed Warden Sharp heading off in his car. The round and balding man with square, thick-rimmed glasses that was considering on running for mayor of Gotham City.

Sharp remind me of Professor Strange who had long been absent from Gotham. I remembered horror stories of the bald man with the chin beard and circle glasses in my asylum days… the cold and clinical man who had a tendency to experiment on the patients that people forgot.

"How'd it go?" Ollie asked as I returned.

"As expected," I said as I flopped on the couch and pulled off my wig and glasses. "Nothing new. Got to hug her for once and she reconnected with her parents."

"That's good," said Ollie as she rolled away from her computer with Chekov in her lap. "Trade you." She set the kitten in my hands and I lied back so the kitten could crawl around on my chest.

I handed Ollie my wig and glasses.

Ollie rolled back to her computer to set the wig and glasses on a mannequin head. Meanwhile, I played with the kitten. He bit my fingers playfully.

"Random question," I spoke. "Have you heard anything about Professor Strange?"

"Uh who?" Ollie asked, confused.

"Professor Hugo Strange. He did prison psychiatry for Blackgate and Arkham, pretty sketch but nothing proven?" I offered.

"Wait wait, bald guy, circle glasses, and major underbeard? Very clinical?"

"Sounds about right." Chekov bit me a little harder than usual. "Ow," I said, looking at him.

"Yeah, now I remember," said Ollie, leaning back. "Lucyfer absolutely loathed that guy… I remember because she called him Professor Toilet Brush because of his beard."

I couldn't help but snicker. "Wow."

"She also said the warden was using Strange to clean out the Gotham City toilet that Blackgate Prison was. I never dealt with him personally. I've only ever heard about him because he left sometime ago. I'll look him up because I'm curious now." Ollie looked back to her computer and typed away.

"Okay." I tossed the little ball with a jingling noise and Chekov proceeded to chase it and smack it around the room.

"From what I can see, Strange left town and has not been seen since for the last ten years. Some notices of sabbatical or whatever… but I'm betting on illegal activity and/or death. What's your take on the guy?" Ollie spun around her chair to look at me.

I shrugged and started changing back into my other clothes. "Same as you. I haven't heard many good things other than that he's very intelligent. Genetics and psychiatry. Mastering the human mind. A lot of unproven reports of illegal, human experimentation. He was also Dr. Quinzel's mentor at Blackate."

Ollie nodded and folded her arms, thinking. "What made you think of him?"

 _What should I say…?_ "I've heard many things in the past and I worry about him coming back… It's one of those thoughts you tend to put on the backburner."

"Well, it's not like he's any worse than Scarecrow who experiments on people with fear gas…"

"He's more likely to get away with shit than Scarecrow since he's never been caught… He's more careful and calculating."

"Have you ever met him?" Ollie asked.

"No… I suppose it's mostly the idea of him that scares me the most." I scratched my neck.

"Is there something more that you're not telling me, Meredith?" Ollie asked, rolling over to me.

"There's nothing more," I said flatly.

Ollie immediately narrowed her hazel eyes at me, sensing hesitation. "More secrets, Meredith?" Ollie asked as she folded her arms.

"Everyone has secrets," I protested, folding my arms.

"Why don't you trust me, Meredith?" Ollie asked.

"I do, Ollie," I said, exasperated. "I just don't tell everyone everything."

"Why?"

"Because it's dangerous to know everything about me, and I know more than anyone should!"

"Do you read minds?" Ollie asked.

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"Omniscient?"

"Just drop it, Ollie," I said.

"That's what it is," Ollie pressed. "Isn't it? You know things."

"Vaguely," I admitted bitterly, "but not everything. I've seen things yet to happen in Gotham. I know about the big bad villains... major events…"

"Like?" Ollie pressed me.

I sighed. "Like Old Gotham becoming a super prison under Professor Strange's design. It happens when Strange returns to this city and Quincy Sharp becomes the mayor. Strange's funded by Tim's old boss. Many criminals die in the super prison. It's an event we all really need to avoid."

Ollie considered this. "You're sure? When did you see this?"

"In my old life…"

"You saw visions of this future back home?" Ollie asked, frowning.

"You got the information you wanted," I said, annoyed. "Drop it."

Ollie frowned. "Is it really so wrong for me to want to know more about you? I really like you, Meredith. You're such a cool person, and I just don't know what to think when you hide stuff like this from me."

 _Jesus Christ._ I groaned and stood up. "You know what? Fine! I'm just gonna drop the big ball on you... Batman is _my_ Gray Ghost."

Ollie's eyes were wider than I had ever seen them. "What?"

"Back home, there were tv shows and other media about him. He was my favorite superhero like Grey Ghost is for you. This world is like one of the stories. I feel like I died and woke up here somehow. You happy?" I asked.

"This… this is a lot to take in," said Ollie, looking startled.

"Yeah, well, you wanted to know so badly. Here it is. I'm some fangirl in a fandom that I loved to death. I'm trapped in it and can never die. Hell, maybe I'll never age. I'll be cursed to fall in love with the people of this world and get my heart ripped out again and again because I'm the only one that's real! The only place I can actually succeed and feel something is fiction and never the reality of my actual life!"

"Hey," Ollie took my hands and put them on her chest so I could feel her heart. "Cut me open and I bleed blood not ink," she said, trying to reach me. "When I die, I die for real. I don't know how things are in your world, but this world is as real as it gets. Maybe whatever we imagine exists or we imagine things that already exist somewhere else. I will never leave you as long as you want me here."

"That sounds like something a parent tells a child," I said. "It's nothing like the logic you speak."

"Well, you make me want to fly to reach your level in the sky, Meredith," said Ollie. "I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

I pulled my hands away from her, and she didn't resist.

"Please believe me, Meredith. I…"

"What?" I asked.

"I can't say it." Ollie looked away.

"Do you love me or something?" I guessed.

"I think I do," Ollie said.

"Then, you love something that isn't real. That doesn't belong."

She folded her arms and looked at me. "You feel real to me, and that's all that matters to me. If you don't care, I'll try to stop."

"Aren't you ace?" I asked, confused.

"I'm not _aromantic_ , Meredith. I can still love someone without having sexual attraction."

I sighed and put my arms on my head. "I just don't know what to think about anything right now," I said.

"Well, do you like me?"

"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "I just don't usually use romantic terms because it confuses me, and I just do not feel good right now. There's just too much stress. I'm just gonna go out and get food or something. Do you want something?"

"Just go," said Ollie, rolling back over to her computer.

"Fine," I said, putting my coat on.

Suddenly, the speakers started blaring static and Ollie rushed to her computer.

I covered my irritated eardrums. "What the fuck is that?!"

"What the hell?" Ollie asked in annoyance.

"Greetings, Advocate… or should I say amateur?" said a sneering male voice.

I saw the Riddler on Ollie's screen.

"Hello, King of the Egomaniacs," said Ollie, typing in her computer.

"Ooh, you just disabled my camera feed of you," said the Riddler. "How astute."

I cautiously walked over to Ollie who was focused on cutting him off.

"But I did notice you had a Storm in your little basement,"

"Talk to him," muttered Ollie, muting her mic. "Distract him while I block him out of my network."

"Don't fret, Advocate. I'm only here on benevolent terms," said Riddler. "It has come to my attention that you have lost two of your comrades." He held up a photograph of us. It was one Ollie gave me. I had lost it.

 _Shit. I must've dropped it in that place he was interrogating Doc…_

"Former security guard and the man of mystery."

"We're listening," said Ollie, folding her arms.

"I thought you would," leered the Riddler. "Now, pay attention! I know exactly where they are. If you want to find them, you'll have to play a game… fair and square. No cheating."

"To be honest, that time with the doctor was an accident," I said.

Ollie sighed. "One hacker to another, can we just skip to the chase considering we have lives at stake? Do you maybe want information or to add some commas to your bank account?"

"Maybe," mused the Riddler. "Maybe if I magically devolved into a monkey right now, I would require your subpar assistance in such simplistic matters."

"Excuse you?" Ollie asked, raising her brow.

"Do you really think you can compare to my genius?"

Ollie cracked her neck. "In a heartbeat, I could fry your systems and send the police to your location. Where is it now? 114 12th Avenue?"

"How did you-"

"Call me subpar again," leered Ollie. "I dare you."

"Threaten me and you'll never see your friends again!" Riddler snapped.

"How about you quit being so rude, Riddler?" I asked. "Show some professional courtesy, perhaps?"

"Let me handle him," Ollie said, waving me down. She adjusted audio and I couldn't hear him anymore.

I held up my hands and sat over by the couch, playing with the kitten.

Advocate (Ollie) and Riddler bantered back and forth for a good while. I couldn't quite understand what Ollie was saying, but I think she was winning. One moment, she leaned back and seemed to be considering something. I glanced at her screen and noticed a riddle written in green.

" **When the ocean peak does not satisfy your desire for a meal,**

 **Seek out the harsher taste of resting iron for a better deal."**

Ollie muttered words to herself. "Ocean peak? Resting iron?"

 _Ocean peak…_ "Like…a wave... an iceberg?" I suggested.

Ollie snapped her fingers at me. "Iceberg Lounge! Penguin… Resting iron… the ship… Penguin has a ship that he holds his goods and fighting events."

"The Final Offer?" I asked, vaguely remembering.

"Yes! Yes. The Final Offer!"

Without another thought, I rushed out the door and hopped into the jeep.

Ollie immediately called me up. "Meredith, we need to plan this out-"

"No!" I exclaimed. "Save them now! It's been several weeks!"

"So you're just going to stroll up to Penguin's ship and demand that he give your friends back?"

"I'll at least scout the area, Ollie. I mean there isn't exactly a map for you to look up. It's an old ass ship."

"Fair enough, but you better be careful, Meredith."

"I will. Later." I hung up.

I drove around the docks and suddenly a disheveled man jumped into the back of my jeep. "DRIVE!" He shouted.

His voice sounding familiar, I sped off and watched him in my rearview mirror. He had some cloth wrapped around his head covering his left eye. His beard was shaggy and black while the hair on his head was green with dark roots.

Behind us, several Penguin thugs were chasing after the jeep. They shouted insults and threats as I got away.

"Oh Meredith," groaned Mark, touching my shoulder. "Thank God."

I pulled over immediately and threw my arms around him. "Mark!"

He hugged me back. "Oh you beautiful girl!" He exclaimed. "Bless your soul!" Mark smelled a bit bad, but I was too happy to care.

"Where's Tim?" I asked.

"He's still on the ship," said Mark between breaths, "but he's gonna be okay. I'll tell you more when we meet with the others. Let's go."

I drove to the cabin in the woods so he could get his own clothes and gear. As he did that, I called up Ollie.

"Did you find them?" Ollie asked.

"Yeah, I found Mark. He's in the shower right now. I think Mark wants to tell us more."

"Well, head on over as soon as you can. Let me know when you're on your way."

"Meredith, where is Lucyfer?" Mark asked.

"She's out of action right now," I said. "It's just Ollie and me right now."

"Was it because of that man in the rabbit mask?"

"Yeah… that's a Mad Hatter thug. Mad Hatter brainwashed her into being his Alice and she's been at Arkham for about a month now… slowly but surely regaining all her memories…"

Mark sighed in the bathroom. "Goddammit… I knew something horrible would happen… Fucking knew it!"

I heard a crash in the bathroom and rushed over to see if Mark was okay. He had cracked the mirror with his fists. Blood ran down the glass as he held his fists there. His eyes were tightly shut.

"Mark," I spoke gently. "It could've been so much worse, and she's been getting better all the time."

He held up a hand, telling me to stop.

"I feel guilty, too, for not getting there sooner," I said, touching his bloody hand. "It is not your fault, Mark. It's the fucking Hatter's, and I beat the shit out of him. I almost beat him to death."

Mark put his arms around me and hugged me tightly for what seemed like a long time. "Meredith…"

"Yes?"

"We need to rescue Tim." Mark let go of me and washed off his hands. "Call up Ollie."

"We can go straight to her place."

"Call her," he insisted. "I'm not leaving this basement tonight unless I have to."

"Okay, Mark." I looked for Lucyfer's laptop and opened it up to call Ollie.

"What's going on?" Ollie asked.

"Mark doesn't want to go anywhere tonight."

Ollie frowned.

"I mean _I_ don't have to stay," I suggested.

"Do whatever you have to, Meredith," said Ollie flatly

I heard Mark moving into the medical area. With his back to me, he removed the cloth around his head. He did something to his face as he looked in the mirror. As he turned back to look at me, I noticed something was wrong with the left eye that was closed. The eyelid was sagging a bit as if the eye was gone.

"Mark…" I said, startled.

Mark sighed. "Penguin had us kidnapped into his ship. Trapped us in the pump room. Put us in charge of pumping water to keep _The Final Offer_ afloat day in and day out. Little food and water… let alone sleep. As punishment for my first attempt at escaping, Penguin had my left eye gouged out."

"Oh Mark," I said, saddened.

"Fucking Penguin," said Ollie. "An eye for an eye."

"He took more than what we ever did," Mark scathed, clenching his jaw a bit. "And he's gonna pay for it."

"How?" Ollie and I asked simultaneously.

He wrapped up his bleeding knuckles. "We're gonna sink _The Final Offer_ ," said Mark triumphantly. "Tim and I know all the weak spots because we've been working them for the last month. Tim says we just need to bring a decently-sized explosive."

I glanced over to Ollie. She sighed. "So how are you gonna get a "decently-sized" explosive in there? Penguin's gonna expect some retaliation. I mean he's not an idiot."

"The fights are the best time since all the thugs are watching or fighting," said Mark.

"I could distract him," I suggested, wheels turning in my head. "Offer a proposition to get Tim back."

"What sort of proposition?" Ollie asked, adjusting her glasses. "You can't offer the ruby you stole. That guy is even worse than the Penguin."

"I'll fight for Tim's freedom in the fights," I said.

"You sure you can handle that, Meredith?" Mark asked. "I wouldn't enter those fights for my lost eye. People fight dirty and get killed all the time. There's no way Penguin would make it possible for you to win."

"If it'll help us get Tim and sink that ship, I'll do it," I said, folding my arms. "Unless you got a better idea?"

"Well, are there holes big enough to slip through at the bottom of the ship?" Ollie asked.

"Not quite," said Mark. "You're more likely to get stabbed the by shredded metal than slip through. I mean there's one hole, but it's a little far off from Tim… I'd have to slip through the thugs. With the right clothes and a glass eye, I might be able to get by."

"If you feel comfortable, yes," said Ollie. "Further down the line, I'm sure I can find you a really nice mechanical eye with cool capabilities."

"Thanks, Ollie."

"So when's the next fight?" I asked.

"Three days," said Mark.

"Well, there should be enough kick in that shipment from Great White Shark," Ollie announced. "It should be in there with the guns… Mark, I can walk you through it while Meredith stops by my place for more gear."

Mark nodded and carried the laptop over. _He's so different from his cheerful self… so angry. I mean, I don't blame him, but at the same time my heart hurts for him._

"Do you need anything while I'm out?" I asked.

"I'm good," said Mark.

"Okay," I said, heading over to Ollie's.

As I drove, I felt a little reluctant to return after my argument with Ollie over secrets. _But it has to be done. We work together and just have to get over it..._

There were a couple of large bags of stuff on the couch as I entered the basement. Ollie didn't even look at me.

"That's a lot of gear," I commented.

"Well, I figured you still wanted to leave," said Ollie. "You have company at the cabin now."

"Well, until the heist at least," I said. "Gearing up and stuff… making sure Mark is okay... I'd come back afterwards."

Ollie looked back to me. "You're not staying with me much anymore, Hon," she declared. "Once Tim is free, you three can go travel the world and stuff. Get out of this crooked place. Drifters are gonna drift." She faced her computer. "But I like being caught in the rocks."

"Are you mad?" I asked, stepping towards her.

"No. I always knew it was temporary…" Ollie didn't look at me as I stood beside her. "I didn't mean for those words to come out like that." She touched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "When I said I… like you… You probably had reasons for not talking about the omniscience… I just need to press when I don't know the truth, Meredith. It drives me nuts and keeps me awake. You're such a walking mystery for me-I love it and hate it so much."

"I'm sorry," I said, staring at the wall ahead.

"No. I'm the one apologizing," said Ollie, looking at me. "You don't need to apologize. I was the one that pushed and couldn't stop asking questions. _I'm_ sorry."

"It's okay… I just get scared about telling more than I should," I said, looking to her.

"That's fair," said Ollie, meeting my gaze for a moment. Her hazel eyes looked away. "I've had my trust betrayed before, too."

We were silent for a while. I hugged my sides. Ollie held her hands in her lap as she stared at her screen.

"And for all you know, this is some psychotic illusion," said Ollie. "I might not even be real."

"Or maybe we go to our dream place when we die?" I suggested. "And I died for real the first time… so I can't die anymore."

"You got some fucked up dreams, then, Meredith," commented Ollie.

I chuckled and she chuckled with me.

I sighed and looked her in the eyes. "Then again, you never value friends and joy more than when you go through dark times together."

Ollie nodded. "If you still just want to be friends, that's fine."

"I… don't really know what I want… but I wouldn't mind being a step closer to someone I can really trust. What do _you_ want, Ollie?"

I also want that," she said. "It's not like I want to marry you and have kids… I just want you and if you want to go nuts with someone else that's fine… just as long as we have what we have here… And maybe… you could call me Olivia instead of Ollie."

"You don't like being called Ollie?" I asked, surprised.

"Not really, everyone just keeps calling me that and I've just learned to brush it off."

"Okay, Olivia."

She smiled a bit and stood up. Neither of us were really sure.

I put my arms around her and held her close to me. She hugged me back and rested her chin on my shoulder. We were stiff for a bit and then relaxed after a while. Ollie-Olivia smelled like lavender and smoke. She felt so soft and warm.

Then, I felt her lean back and I did so, too. We kissed softly on each other's lips and it felt surprisingly right.

Olivia held me tighter and kissed my cheek. "God, I've been longing to do that," she murmured. We were rocking back and forth a bit.

I smiled softly, bemused. "I had no idea."

"Also, this." Olivia ruffled my hair. Her nails tickled my scalp.

I chuckled, secretly loving that sensation a lot.

"Wow, it is surprisingly thick," she commented. "I didn't think it would be with it so straight like that. Getting long, too."

"It does that," I said. "I don't know what to do with it."

"I think of a few ideas for you while you're gone," she said, touching it again.

"I'll stay a night with you before we go anywhere," I promised.

"Just stay in touch," she said, looking at my touching my cheeks. Olivia kissed my lips again and I kissed back. "Take the one closest to the door."

"Okay." I hugged her one more time and picked up a bag.

Olivia picked up Chekov and held the kitten up to me. "Say bye-bye, Chekov."

I nuzzled my face against his.

The gray kitten put his paws on my nose and meowed.

I meowed back.

Chekov meowed again. Smiling, Olivia pulled him back from my nose as gently as she could.

I leaned in close to lean in and touch noses with her. Then, I meowed.

Olivia snickered. "Meow to you, too."

We kissed one more time, and I walked out the door. I felt a lot better and a little sad at the same time. _She's never going to be able to go anywhere with me… She will always be trapped here in Gotham because of Scarecrow… And what if we have a bad breakup?... What if everything goes so horrible and I can't work with the Drifters anymore… What if she ever told my secrets?..._

 _It's Ollie-Olivia, Meredith… You've trusted her this far… just enjoy the good while you have it._

I returned to the cabin to find Mark cleaning his guns. His beard was trimmed and he had a black mohawk draped over the left side of his head. The green was cut out. He jumped a little as I came in and I held my hands up.

He relaxed when he realized it was me. "Oh, it's just you, Meredith." Mark continued cleaning his gun.

"Nice mohawk," I commented.

"Thanks. I needed something new."

"Are you okay?" I asked as I approached him.

"I'm just restless and really tired, Mere," Mark said, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you want a drink?"

He shook his head. "I'm not drinking until we get Tim back. Then, we're celebrating our fucking faces off."

I smiled.

"You look pretty tired yourself," Mark said, pausing to look at me. "Get some rest if you need it. Drink, whatever."

"Okay." I poured myself a drink and we sat in silence. It was strange how quiet Mark was, _But people sometimes need their quiet time. I'm actually pretty tired._

I turned on the television and started flipping through channels.

On the day I was supposed to go in, I mentally prepared myself in the bathroom mirror. I _don't know why I was nervous about dealing with the Penguin, but I felt some anxiety about doing the deal right._ "...Either way, you win," I said, giving myself a raised brow. "What do you think about that? You stuffy penguin." I rolled my eyes at myself.

 _One look at you and they're all gonna think you're a softy. You're gonna fail this Herculean task. You against all those thugs? Hah._

"You don't have to do this you know," said Mark, standing beside me. He got a new glass eye that worked like a lazy eye. "Those fights are really rough."

"Just do your job and I'll do mine," I said, trying to get focused.

Mark put his arms around me. "Promise me that you'll call for help when you need it."

"I promise," I said.

We headed to Amusement Mile together via jeep several hours before the fights. Both of us were wearing Penguin thug garb, armor, and our usual weaponry. I slipped aboard the ship with my ski mask on. The armor flattened my chest a bit so no one really noticed. After getting through the maze of the ship, I reached Penguin's main office while he was talking with Deadshot alone.

"This better be good!" The rotund Penguin barked with a cockney accent at me from his desk. He held a cigar in his hand and was wearing a large white blouse with suspenders. I could barely see his left eye through the bottom of the bottle shoved in his eye socket.

Deadshot gave me a glare, too. He had his eye device over his right eye for his revered skills as a sniper for hire. The man could shoot a target from miles away even if the shot wasn't straight. He could ricochet a bullet across the city before the target even knew what was up. His body was covered in a reddish brown armor. Guns were holstered at his sides and slung over his shoulder. His goatee and hair was short and black.

"Oh sorry," I said with a thuggish voice. "Ugh, you might wanna hear this in private, Mr. Cobblepot. I'll wait." I went to the door again.

"Just wait in the corner," snapped the Penguin, waving me to the side.

I closed the door and stood in the corner to wait.

"Shouldn't be too hard," commented Deadshot, facing Penguin again.

"Make sure it's through his eye," said the Penguin. "I told that son of a bitch that he'd lose it if he ever tried to escaped again."

 _Oh no. Is he talking about Mark?!_

"It'll be done," said Deadshot. "And it's the same account numbers as last time."

"Send me a picture and I'll increase the price," said Penguin with a cackle.

"You got it." Deadshot headed out the door, giving me a side glance.

Penguin sighed and leaned forward to look at me. "Okay, what's so bloody important that you got to interrupt my meeting?!" He barked at me.

"Negotiation," I said with my regular voice.

He blinked and frowned, taking a smoke of his cigar.

I pulled off my black, ski mask. "You've shanghaied a couple of my friends and I want the last one back."

"And who the hell are you?" Penguin growled.

"I'm Meredith Storm of the Drifter Gang. I stole the Dragon's Eye Ruby."

His wrinkled face scrounged into a snarl of outrage. Then, he smirked and cackled at me. "You got some moxie sneaking into my ship, Meredith Storm, but I guess Lucyfer's too brainfucked to talk to me herself." Penguin leaned forward, sending a big puff of smoke at me. "Well fine, you've intrigued me, Storm. You better have that ruby in your bag."

"You've already taken Mark's eye," I said, ignoring the smoke. "How many more do you need?"

"It's not just an eye. It's _respect_ and you little punks crossed me! Now what do you got-before I call my boys in to give ya a good thrashing?" Penguin narrowed his eyes at me.

"You got the fights going on tonight, right?"

Penguin snickered. "You don't mean to tell me you want to play?"

"I bet $50,000 on myself winning," I said flatly, opening my bag and dumping the money on his desk.

Penguin raised a brow and bellowed a laugh. "You think you could _win_?" He asked, bemused.

"Yep."

"Oh that's a riot!"

I stepped in. "When I win, you can take my winnings and I can take my friend home. You also call off Deadshot. We'll leave Gotham and never come back."

"And if you lose?" Penguin smoked, considering this.

"Then, we pay back the worth of $14,000,000."

"Hmm," he nodded and blew out smoke from his nose.

I held out my hand. "Take it or leave it."

Penguin nodded. "You got yourself a bargain." He stood up, shook my hand once, yanking me a little closer. "Don't-fuck-with-me, Storm," Penguin growled in my face.

I nodded and pulled my hand back.

The door opened behind me and some thugs walked in.

"Count the money and check her," said Penguin.

Some thugs started counting while a couple others started feeling me up. Pulling off one gun in my waistband.

"Oh, she won't be needing that," said Penguin, noting the gun.

One guy grabbed my butt.

"Fuck off," I said, shoving him back.

Some guys pointed guns at me.

"Save it for the fight," said Penguin, folding his arms. "Wait in the casino. Keep an eye on her."

I was shuffled off to the casino area where they watched me.

"Meredith is in," said Olivia in my ear.

"Roger," said Mark. "Working the beat."

"You're gonna get your ass kicked, Bitch," said one of the thugs.

I ignored him.

"What? Too cool to answer?"

I scratched my jawline.

"Probably just amping for that fight," commented a thug. "Winner take all."

"You really think you're gonna win, Bitch?" The other thug asked. "If you wanted to pay 50 grand to get your ass beat, you didn't have to go all the way to Penguin. I would've done it for free."

I kept quiet, still ignoring all and any taunts. Then, they led me down into the arena where a bunch of other thugs was waiting.

"Whoa is that a girl?" A couple of them commented.

I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders.

"Aaaaall right everybody," said an announcing thug. "Winner take all in this exciting competition where the winnings have been raised to $200,000."

"Holy shit," said a thug. "Is there that many guys today?"

"Let the fights commence!" Penguin shouted.

The thugs started fighting each other. I stood aside until I was attacked by someone. On the first strike, I struck fast and hard. These guys fell down relatively easily, so they might've been bottom of the rung guys. More guys were released into the arena, and they were a little tougher than the other guys. Some had armor and bats. It grew more intense with each round and I kept holding my own. Occasionally, I got cut and hit, but I stayed up. Suddenly, there were no more thugs and I stood alone, breathing heavily. I was so sore and tired. One of my eyes was swollen shut and my gums were bleeding.

"It seems we've found our underdog champ," said announcing thug, as I stood victorious. I held up my arms.

Penguin thugs started booing at me.

"SHUT IT!" Penguin shouted over the masses, firing off a gun. "There's one final challenger."

"He's big, he's scaly, and he might've eaten your girlfriend last week!" said the announcer. "From the sewers of Gotham City, the crocodile wrestling freak himself… KILLER CROC!"

The doors slammed open and I saw Killer Croc step forward, growling. Several Penguin thugs scattered to the side while others cheered and otherwise shouted.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I muttered to myself.

Killer Croc stomped over to the middle where I was.

"What's going on, Meredith?" Mark asked.

"Killer Croc just showed up as the final challenger," I said, bracing myself.

"Get out of there, Meredith. That guy is fucking monster!"

"You still working down there?" I muttered.

"Yes, but you're at greater risk," Mark protested.

"I got this."

"No, he's going to bite your head off in one try. Get out of there, Meredith."

"Mark," Olivia cut in. "If she says she fucking got this. She fucking got this. Do your job."

"But…"

"Trust Meredith, Mark," said Tim in the background.

Killer Croc stomped over to me, leering at me with his sharp teeth. "No escape this time, Bitch," he snarled at me.

"There's always an escape," I said, picking out a grenade and smoke bomb from my pockets.

Killer Croc snarled and charged at me. Quickly, I threw down a smoke bomb and slipped around him. I grappled across the room and kicked him in the face as I went. He charged at the direction I went and I dropped down to kick him in the face again. Immediately, I pulled a pin in the grenade and dove away from the blast.

He came after me and got knocked over by the force of the grenade blast. Grabbing my knife, I jumped onto his back and stabbed into his back with my knife.

Growling with rage, Croc struggled to grab me and shake me off while I hung onto the handle of the knife that was stuck in his thick hide.

"Oh look at this crazy bitch go!" The announcer exclaimed. "Storm is riding this motherfucker like he's a bull! Yeehaw!"

I rolled my eyes. Croc suddenly moved into a wall. I dropped off to the side and watched him slam into the wall. From the look on his agonized face, the knife had gone further into his back somehow. He struggled to grab at it for a second, and then gave up to charge at me.

Croc grabbed ahold of me and tried to bite my face. I held up my arms to keep his sharp jaws at bay.

"Uh-oh, Storm's in trouble," declared the announcer. "This Big Bad Croc isn't gonna let go for anything, but she's actually trying to hold him back from biting her head off! Unless she's got another trick up her sleeve, she's not gonna last long."

Croc grabbed my arms and then I kneed his jaws shut before he could bite. I wrapped my legs around his neck and tried to choke him.

"Oh man, she's trying to choke Croc out with her legs. Sexy and dangerous!"

I rolled my eyes and struggled to keep myself under his chin. Croc yanked my left arm into his mouth and bit hard.

I shouted in pain, squeezing his neck harder as blood ran down my arm.

"Meredith?!" Mark shouted in alarm in my ear.

"Oh shit!" Declared the announcer. "He's got her arm in his mouth!"

"I'm fine!" I shouted. "I'm fan-fucking-tastic! Let's see how you like it!" I bit Croc's scaly hand as hard as I could.

Croc snarled in pain, letting go of my arm. He seemed to be losing air.

"Oh my God!" The announcer shouted. "She bit him back! She bit him back! I don't believe it!"

Tightening my legs around his neck, I tried to sink my teeth deeper into his thick skin.

Croc smacked my head really hard and the force caused my teeth to break skin. Blood ran into my mouth and down my chin.

"Take a note from this crazy bitch, bite the monster when he bites you," said the announcer. "Damn!'

Croc suddenly fell to his knees as the strangling started taking its toll. He used both hands in an attempt to remove my legs from his neck. I struggled against his arm strength as he pulled at my legs. It was mainly a fight to keep my feet hooked around each other. I smacked my hands into his face, trying to daze him.

"Oh wait, is she actually choking him out?!" The announcer cried out in shock. " I think she is."

Croc ripped my legs off him and suddenly passed out. He fell forward and my abdomen was a cushion for his head as my legs sprawled over his shoulders. The wind was knocked out of my lungs, making me gasp for air. My jaws released Croc's hand. His hand flopped to the side as he lay unconscious.

"Oh my God!" The announcer shouted. "He is down for the count! I can't believe it! She just choked him out!"

I groaned and struggled to get out from under Croc's head before he woke up again. Wiggling out, I struggled to my feet. Breathing hard, I noticed thugs staring at me open-mouthed.

"How's it going, guys?" I commented to my ear piece as I got away from Croc.

"We're on our way out," said Mark. "Are you doing okay, Meredith?"

"Peachy," I said, glancing over to Penguin who was in shock. I shrugged at Penguin. "Got any more surprise challenges or can I go home?!" I asked him.

I heard Killer Croc grunt and get to a kneeling position.

"Ohh, looks like Killer Croc hasn't had enough yet," said the announcer.

The thugs cheered.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Fuck this shit," I muttered.

Killer Croc slowly got up again and growled.

I quickly grappled past Croc and blew through the doors. Dodging all the thugs in my path, I ran for the exit. Killer Croc was hot on my heels.

"Attention all passengers," said Ollie on the ship intercom. "Courtesy of the boys in the pump room, the ship will be sinking to the bottom of the Gotham Bay in less than five minutes. I repeat. _The Final Offer_ will sink to the bottom of Gotham Bay in less than five minutes. Abandon ship or abandon all hope."

I got out on the main deck and leapt off the side for the docks, barely making it onto the wooden edge. My ribs and everything else really hurt. Weakly, I struggled to get on the surface.

Killer Croc suddenly landed in front of me as I hung on the edge and growled at me. Some of his teeth was still stained with my blood and possibly his.

 _Well shit._

Suddenly, Croc was knocked over me and splashed down into the Gotham Bay water.

Mark and Tim breathed heavily in Croc's place.

"You still got this?" Mark asked me sarcastically.

Before I could retort, I was yanked down into the water by a large hand. I think I heard Tim and Mark shout in fear for me.

Croc's hand dragged me down deep and I struggled against his grip, kicking out blindly. We surfaced in a dark place and I just knew it was the sewers by the foul smell. Killer Croc bit into my shoulder and I shouted in pain. He growled a lot and twisted my arm, trying to break it off.

I kicked him in the groin with both feet, and he dropped me in the water. My shoulder bled and hurt like none other. It was hard to tread in the waste and sea water while in pain.

"You can't break my bones!" I shouted at him as he held his groin. "So stop trying to fucking eat me!" I struggled to reach the ladder.

Then, Croc leapt on top of me and pulled me under, trying to drown me. I heard a loud noise under the water and he let me go. Quickly, I swam over to the ladder and climbed up. There were loud gunshots as Mark and Tim shot at Killer Croc.

He got closer and closer to them as they ran. I followed quickly, knowing Tim and Mark were going the wrong way.

As Croc cornered Mark and Tim, I leapt onto Croc's back and worked on strangling him with my arms and legs again. Croc took us down into underwater, trying to shake me off and smack me into the walls. I refused to let go of his neck, knowing he needed as much air as me. Then, he stood up and tried to rip me off of his neck.

"If you stop trying to attack me, I'll let go!" I shouted over his snarls. His claws dug into my arms. "Hell, I'll get a doctor to look at your wounds! Just fucking stop it, Croc! Stop it!"

He growled and suddenly stood still.

I loosened my grip.

Croc coughed as he breathed again. "I don't need your help," he said hoarsely.

"You can't quite reach the knife in your back. I can pull it out."

"Get it out and leave."

I took ahold of the handle and pulled the knife out. He growled at me and I dropped down into the water. I carefully got back as he continued to glare at me with his yellow eyes.

The guys pulled me up and led me to the spot they entered from. Croc continued to watch us.

"If I hear you bragging about this shit, I'll eat your friends!" He shouted up at me.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a stalemate," I said. "Nobody won or lost. Well, I did lose $50,000. Hell, there's probably a bunch of money if you're willing to swim down to the ship."

"Meredith, come on!" Mark urged me up the ladder.

I climbed up the ladder with the guys.

Tim was waiting up top with a hose. Immediately, he hosed me off and the force knocked me into a wall.

"Jesus, Tim," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"This child is clean," Tim said with a Southern accent.

"Oh, is that another personality?" I asked Mark.

"No, that's just his sense of humor," said Mark. "The personality thing is actually getting better I think. He's getting a little more self-aware."

Tim sprayed me again. "Missed a spot," he said with a chuckle.

I shook my head as I dripped with clean water..

"You're bleeding," said Mark as he looked at my shoulder wound.

I looked at it, too, and noticed it was mending itself slowly.

"Holy shit…"

"I can explain later," I said, covering it up with my hand.

"Look," commented Tim as he pointed down the road.

Mark and I looked and saw Gotham Bay.

"No more eyesore," said Tim.

I looked at Mark, and he burst out laughing.

Tim and I laughed with him.

We all returned to the cabin to have some drinks, medical attention, and fun with Olivia via the computer. It was almost like old times.


	6. Chapter 6: Dog Days

**CHAPTER SIX: DOG DAYS**

I awoke after a long sleep and saw a lot of things were closed up in the cabin basement. The guns were locked away. Tim and Mark were sitting at the table, having some sandwiches.

"Mornin' sleepy head," said Mark. He and Tim both had bald heads and trimmed beards.

"Didn't like the mohawk anymore?" I asked.

He rubbed his shaved head. "Not really. Just wanted to shave my head altogether."

"This place is looking pretty packed up," I commented.

"Yep. Was mostly waiting on you."

"Hold that thought." I limped over to the bathroom and used it. Then, I came back out. "So, what are you guys planning?"

"We're gonna stop by Metropolis for some of my stuff, and it's off to retirement in Munich, Germany," Mark declared.

"Ja!" Tim cheered in his Hans voice.

"Wait, we're quitting?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah," said Mark. "I mean after all we've been through?" Mark frowned. "You still want to steal, Meredith?"

"I... thought we were going to continue on elsewhere."

Mark sighed. "Well, Meredith, the whole purpose of being thieves is to get rich enough that you... don't have to worry anymore… My life savings went down the toilet because of my security job. I mean-Tim? Do _you_ want to do this for the rest of your life?"

"I'm flexible," said Tim with a shrug.

"Is it your highest preference?"

"I suppose not." Tim looked over to me, concerned.

"See?" Mark said to me. "I mean, when is enough is _enough_ for you, Meredith? Don't you have goals? Dreams? Ideas of paradise?... I mean I wanted enough money to live an easy life in a different country where I can hunt and go dancing. After I joined the Drifters, I wanted to take you guys with me... if you wanted to come."

"My life has been paradise since I joined the Drifters, Mark," I said. "I mean it's been rough sometimes, but there are vacations for that. I just... want to travel the world and have fun with you guys. The money always runs out though. Everything adds up and we'll always have enemies."

"Well, if you aren't frugal and careful," said Mark, scratching his beard.

"I'm not," I said with a shrug. "I mean I'm more frugal than people that have had money all their lives, but... I'm not ready for retirement. It just sounds weird at my age. I'll take a vacation, but I don't really want to quit yet, Mark. I mean, I thought we were on the same page. I thought you thought this was fun."

Mark sighed. "I thought you thought this was a means to an end. When the going gets tough, the tough get going... I've had enough gang adventures in crazy ass cities."

I frowned. "I'll go on vacation with you guys, but I'm not ready to quit."

"Give it chance. Pick up on hobbies you might've forgotten. I mean, what did you like to do before you lost everything?"

I considered, frowning. _I… don't know..._

"It's okay," said Tim. "I'm not sure either, but I know I am getting old. I'm probably getting close to fifty years. But you like to dance, Mark?" He frowned, confused.

"Hell yeah I _love_ to dance! You didn't know that? Mark asked with a big grin.

I shook my head.

"Well, I'll just have to take you guys dancing in Metropolis."

"I'll watch," I said with a smirk. "But I'm not much of a dancer."

"How does one dance?" Tim asked, genuinely confused.

"You just wiggle to the music," I said with a shrug.

"Just wiggle?" Mark asked, surprised. He stood up and danced a little. "Butterflies fly with wings. The peacock struts." He strutted around me. "Dolphins flip out of the water. People dance." He picked up my arms and started making them dance. "You feel great while you shake that poor soul that's trapped in your flesh. And Meredith, come on you know you like to dance."

"Not in front of other people," I said, shaking my head and smiling. "I dance like a dork, Mark."

"Well, dance for me. Let's see what you got."

"I'm not your puppet, you weirdo," I said shaking my head, stepping away from him. "And we need to swing by Olivia's before we go."

" _Olivia_ 's?" Mark asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, she doesn't be like to be called Ollie, but she's been called Ollie for so long that she just gave up on correcting people. Ever since you all disappeared, I stayed with her."

"And you guys got along okay?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "She kept my head straight while I was losing my mind."

"Huh. I knew she liked you." Mark winked at me.

I snorted softly and rolled my eyes. "Let me call her and make sure she didn't drink too much last night." I picked up my phone and dialed Olivia's number.

"Yeah?" Olivia answered.

"Mark wants to head to Metropolis today. I thought we'd swing by before we went if that's all right with you… and... Mark and Tim were talking about quitting."

"Figured as much, but I got one last job in Metropolis. One that will interest Mark greatly."

"Really?" I was intrigued.

"But if Mark wants to sit in the backseat it's totally fine. You've more than proved your worth as a lone, field man. And it's just S.T.A.R. Labs. No big deal."

"Hmm, Want us to bring you anything?"

"Would Tim be willing to make some more of that coffee?"

"Of course," said Tim with his Punjabi accent. "Anytime for my favorite supplier!"

"You heard that?" Mark asked.

Tim frowned at Mark. "You didn't?"

"Tim said 'of course'," I told Olivia.

"Excellent," said Olivia. "See you soon, Mere," She hung up.

I chuckled as I put my phone away.

We finished packing up in my truck and drove over to Olivia's. I drove while Tim sat in the middle with Mark in the passenger seat. We met up with Olivia in her basement.

Olivia smirked at us with Chekhov in her arms, and gave Mark and Tim pats on the shoulders. "You sons of bitches." She looked to me.

"Is that a cat?" Mark asked, confused.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Yes, and he keeps meowing at the damn door, waiting for Meredith to come back with a can of tuna. Spoiled little cloud…" Olivia put the cat in my arms, and Chekhov climbed up into my shoulders to purr around my head.

I petted him.

"I'm glad he can't write or talk," Olivia continued. "He'd probably write a sad play called Aunt Olivia."

I chuckled.

"What?" Mark asked, confused.

"His name is Chekhov," I explained.

"Oh," said Tim with a chuckle.

"Merey Orchard?" I suggested.

Olivia shook her head. "Okay, that's enough puns. Let's sit and talk about closing matters and Metropolis."

We sat down together and Chekhov nestled in my shoulders, purring. When the cat noticed Mark sitting next to me, Chekhov moved out of Mark's reach but remained close to me.

"So... where did the cat come from?" Mark asked.

"Meredith picked it up from an alley after Bryce threw her off a roof," said Olivia.

"Wait, what?!" Mark looked at me.

"She didn't tell you?" Olivia looked at me.

"We were focused on saving Tim," I said with a shrug. "You were too distressed to ask me a ton of questions, Mark."

"But… Bryce threw you off a roof," said Mark with wide eyes. "He could've killed you."

I shrugged. "He was mad I left Lucy to the authorities."

Mark narrowed his eyes."That fucking bastard. You did the best you could for her."

"I will kill him if I ever see him again," said Tim with a calm nod.

"Don't forget, he's Lucy's cousin," I said. "Practically her brother."

"And you're the kindest heart of this entire group," said Mark. "You're not blood, but by God, you're a sweetheart and don't deserve to be thrown off a roof. Unless he apologizes, I'm definitely knocking a few teeth out the next time I see him." He packed a pack of cigarettes.

"You better not smoke that brand in my house," said Olivia, smoking her pipe.

"What's wrong with it?" Mark asked.

"Stains the air and the ceiling." She tossed him a bag of rolled up cigarettes. "Try these."

Mark sighed and lit one up. Tim and I politely refused them while Mark and Olivia smoked.

"But anyway," said Olivia. "Meredith brought that gray kitty home while covered in Mad Hatter's blood. She said his name is Chekhov. I get him set up with a vet, licensed, and take care of him every day… but he always sleeps on _he_ r side of the bed."

" _Her_ side of the bed?" Mark repeated.

Olivia blew smoke out of her nose. "What are you a parrot? Did you think one of us just slept on the couch for a whole month? I bet you and Tim were snuggling on that loveboat."

"We slept _near_ each other," said Mark. "We didn't cuddle."

"Too bad. You both look like you need a good cuddle. Watch your back for spooning, Mere."

I chuckled.

"So what do you want to talk about Olivia?" Mark asked. "We got a long drive."

"Well, there's something I need in Metropolis in order to fix you up with a custom robotic eye," said Olivia. "Hubris, lights at half."

The lights went down to half level. Olivia messed with the projector so we could see the robotic eye trapped in a case. "You'll be able to see and get custom applications like heat vision, night vision, whatever you want."

Mark sighed. "That's nice and all, Ollie-or Olivia… I'm not exactly keen to continue this line of work."

"And that's fine," said Olivia. "I'm sure Meredith can pick up your slack no problem if you can manage getaway driver. Just a parting gift. Won't cost you nothing but gas and other travel expenses. Plus, this device is actually an old prototype I entered into a contest at S.T.A.R. labs when I was in high school. I got a grant to college and later lost most of my original blueprints during the ugly process of being evicted from my apartment. It's just sitting there in that dusty case, waiting to be taken back."

"S.T.A.R. labs is heavily guarded," said Mark.

"Yes, but it's less dangerous than robbing a place like LexCorp."

Mark blew smoke out his nose. "Good point, but it's okay, Olivia. I don't need a robotic eye."

"That's nice and all, Mark," said Olivia. "but _I_ need it whether you want it or not… It's just one last thing in a city away from Gotham City. I got some new gadgets." She picked up a disk shaped device with a handle. "This'll do the same thing as our "trouble speaker" from the key heist, except quieter. Just press the button while it's on the display glass and it will emit a quiet frequency that will break the glass."

"Nice!" I said.

"I thought so, too. I also modified your grappler-gun so that it can lower you down slowly if you press the button behind the firing switch. The firing switched is curved so it won't hit the button if you pull it."

"What's this device?" Tim asked as he picked up something by the grappler-gun.

Olivia smirked, taking it from Tim. "Oh that's a Chekhov toy, also known as a laser pointer." Olivia pressed a button and a little laser appeared in front of Chekhov. Chekhov started chasing it around and smacked into a wall trying to get it.

"Huh," commented Tim. "I've never seen someone use a laser like that."

"Did you bring coffee, my friend?" Olivia asked.

"Yes." He handed her a twenty pound bag of coffee grinds.

She struggled with the weight for a second and set it on her postage desk with a grunt. "Nice."

Chekhov tried to search for the laser, and Tim sat on the ground to watch him.

Olivia suggested different routes of entry and exit… a basic sneak in and out, evading high-tech security.

"And you mentioned a closing?" Mark asked.

"Yes," said Olivia with a nod. "My contact with you will go dark for security reasons. Nothing personal. Meredith will be the only means of reaching me."

"Well, what if she decides she wants to quit?"

"That's between her and me," said Olivia as she kicked a jingling ball over to Chekhov. He started to chase it around and smack it with his paws.

I nodded.

"Drifter secrets stays with the Drifters. Traitors will be shot. The usual. Oh, and nice knowing you. Any last words for me?"

Mark got up and hugged Olivia. "Thank you for everything, Olivia."

"Just doin' my job." She awkwardly patted him.

Tim joined in the hug. "I will miss you."

"Okay, this is becoming a man sandwich."

I got in, too, and touched noses with her as she looked at me. "Meow."

The guys chuckled, probably confused.

"And you're going to be seeing me in a few days when you deliver the eye, Meredith," said Olivia. "All of you sentimental weirdos..." She hugged us, squeezing us all a little tighter.

We chuckled.

Then, she squeezed out and picked up Chekhov who was on her pants, climbing up. "Ugh, you need your claws trimmed," Olivia commented to the cat.

"Is Lucyfer going to be okay?" Tim asked.

Olivia lowered her glasses to the edge of her nose. "Most voonds heal wif time," said Olivia, mocking Dr. Whistler's German accent.

"Who are you quoting?" Tim/Hans asked with a German accent

Olivia continued imitating Dr. Whistler's accent. "My old shrink and Lucy's current shrink, Dr. Gretchen Vhistler. She has a very distinct German accent and is very good at what she does. Fairly compassionate, but some people can't be helped."

"Some flowers never bend towards the sun," I said, throwing in my imitation attempt.

"Ooh that was _good_ ," said Olivia, looking at me in surprise. She pushed her glasses back up to her face.

"She's really good at doing voices," said Mark, putting his arm around my shoulder. "I mean remember last night when she was doing Penguin imitations?"

"I was?" I asked, trying to remember.

"Really good," said Tim, giving me a thumbs up.

I smiled, blushing a bit.

"I mean, you could probably do it without trying right now," said Mark.

"I could attempt," I said with a shrug before clearing my throat. "Stop blowing holes in my ship! This better be good, or I'll have Deadshot take your other eye!" I blinked. "Oh shit," I said, dropping the imitation. "That reminds me, Olivia. We might have trouble with Deadshot… I mean I kinda won, but kinda didn't-Penguin is gonna be pissed as hell after we blew a hole in his ship."

"Oh, I cleared that up this morning," said Olivia as she sat in her computer chair. "Lawton owed Lucyfer a favor, and technically Meredith did hold up her bargain with Penguin." Olivia looked to me. "You won the fight with Croc. It was Mark and Tim's plan that blew up the ship. It's not our fault if Penguin is a sore loser."

"The fight was more of a draw really," I said.

Olivia gave me a look. "Penguin played dirty by throwing Croc into that final fight. You would've won fair and square, because you are such a fucking marvel."

"Yeah, about that," said Mark, touching my shoulder.

I winced at the soreness.

"I've seen people lose arms for less and you can still use yours."

"Well, she's obviously a mutant," said Olivia, casually.

"Olivia," I protested.

Olivia looked at me and shrugged. "They're not dumb."

"You lied to us?" Mark asked, surprised.

"Of course, she did. How do you just come out and say that you have regenerative abilities and unbreakable bones? She didn't want you guys to freak out and was worried about you telling people that might want to take advantage of her."

"I wouldn't have told anybody," said Tim, looking at the floor.

"Me either," said Mark. "We wouldn't want anyone to do that to you, Meredith."

"I thought so," I said with a shrug, "but I also thought it would be easier for you to protect me if you didn't know at all."

"Oh, that's smart," said Tim.

Mark sighed. "Well, I would've felt better if I knew you weren't going to die every time you did something crazy like set off a grenade in your pocket or fight a crocodile man."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's fine. How long have you had it? How long has Olivia known?"

"Since her home disappeared and she showed up in Gotham," Olivia said casually. "No rhyme or reason, it was just there. And… she told me when she came over to get her bandages analyzed. She was particularly afraid to tell _Lucy_ with her record of blowing the collar and whatnot."

"What about the scars?" Mark asked, puzzled. "That tattoo on your shoulder?"

"That was when she was home," said Olivia. "She doesn't know the schematics and I can't make heads or tails about it other than a possible government conspiracy."

"The government?" Mark asked with a raised brow, disbelieving.

"Or some rich private company. Call me paranoid all you want, but the government does all sort of shit when you're not looking."

"Like what?"

"Send skilled convicts with life sentences on suicide missions for reduced time?" Olivia suggested.

"What?" Mark wrinkled his nose, puzzled.

"You mean Suicide Squad," I said, looking to Olivia.

"Were you in it?"

"No. I just know some people who were… but I suppose I would be a candidate if they recognized my usefulness."

"Do you know who runs it?" Olivia asked.

"Amanda Waller?" I suggested with a shrug.

"I thought so. Who do you know that was in it?"

"Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang…"

"Captain _Boomerang_?" Mark asked with a raised brow.

"He uses boomerangs and is Australian. What's to know?" I said with a shrug.

"Anyhow, daylight is burning," said Olivia. "Get your asses out of here or you'll never leave Gotham."

"All right… Goodbye, Olivia," said Mark.

"Bye-bye," said Tim.

"Bye, Boys," said Olivia, waving at us. "And I'll see you later, Meredith."

I nodded and bagged the new gadgets she had for me.

We all walked out of the house and Mark drove us to Metropolis.

Several hours passed along the way and none of us really talked much. Our own thoughts were heavy in our individual minds.

"So you have no idea how you got your abilities?" Mark asked.

"Nope," I said.

"What does it feel like?"

I shrugged. "You feel normal for the most part… like a dream where you can feel fine if you aren't squeamish. Then, you look around at how slowly other people heal and realize you're a freak of nature. Like if you finish too early on a test and look like a smartass."

"Isn't finishing early a good thing?" Tim asked.

"On paper it looks nice," I explained. "Socially, it makes you look like someone who thinks they're better than everyone else."

"And that's bad even if it's true?"

"Well, yeah," said Mark. "People tend to get jealous and passive-aggressive in response to someone who moves faster, while the people who move faster tend to get cocky. It can either move them to be better or to never change."

Tim sighed. "People are always so aggravated."

"I suppose it's better than bored," said Mark.

"My master and fellow assassins were always so aggravated about the world and human nature," said Tim. "How destructive and cruel it is… The League struggled for centuries to make the world change."

"The core of people will never change," I said, sadly. "They can try, but our history alone tells us that we will always be intelligent and barbaric… We were never meant to settle on one side."

Tim nodded.

"Well, I feel more optimistic," said Mark. "We are changing, but we're just very slow about it because change is difficult and scary for many of us."

We were quiet for a while.

"Do you think about the League a lot, Tim?" Mark asked.

"It took a good portion of my life," said Tim. "… I remember the hatred and hope that united the people. The sense of purpose… I look at my drawings and think about them. Whether they were right or wrong…"

"From what I know, I think they started right," I said. "And became poisoned by the tolls of time."

"I have no idea," said Mark. "I just think it's wrong to kill someone over a drawing."

I nodded.

Tim was silent. We continued on to Metropolis. We took up a hotel suite and relaxed.

Mark ran around doing errands for the next few days while Tim and I chilled out, enjoying the fancy hotel services. On our last day, we would take the eye and get the hell out of Dodge. I'd drop Mark and Tim at the airport, and meet them in Germany after I returned the eye to Olivia.

After returning with some bags, Mark spent most of his time in the bathroom until dark. He came out looking fabulous in his v-neck top and tight, black pants. A cloud of decent-smelling cologne surrounded him.

"What are you wearing, my friend?" Tim asked, ogling him.

"A Grand-Slam," said Mark, eyeing himself in a mirror.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"We're gonna go dance, Kids," said Mark, sitting between Tim and me. He put his arms around us and grinned.

"Good joke," I said wryly.

"Come on, Meredith," said Mark, squeezing me. "Be a good sport. You know you can't get into a club without some pretty girls on your arm."

"You're probably pretty enough for the three of us."

Tim laughed.

"Very funny," said Mark, "but you haven't even seen my moves yet. You two get ready while I make a few calls." He strolled over to the desk.

I sighed and gave myself some minimal eye makeup, fluffing up my hair a bit.

"Meredith?" Tim asked.

"Hmm?"

"What should I do?" He was dressed casually in jeans, boots, and a collared t-shirt.

I gave him some cologne and tossed some glitter on him, not really knowing what to do myself.

"Look like you're having a good time and do some cool moves," I said with a shrug. "This is not really my scene either. Clubs are expensive, and I don't like random guys hitting on me and touching me."

"I'll protect you." Tim put his fist to his chest.

I smirked a little. "It's not a huge problem so much as an occasional annoyance, but I appreciate that."

"Does Olivia mind if you go dancing?"

I shrugged. "As long as I do my job and stay in touch, she doesn't really care. Why do you ask?"

"Aren't you two _together_?"

I blinked. "You noticed that?"

"Yes. Is it supposed to be a secret?"

"Not really," I said, "but we're not overly public either… It's not a big deal. We're like really close friends, and she knows I wouldn't betray her."

"It's good to have trust."

I nodded.

"Maybe indulge Mark a bit, Meredith?" Tim suggested.

Frowning, I looked over to Tim. "What do you mean?"

"Life is short. We're starting to part ways. I wish to cherish every moment I have with you and him."

My heart sank at that heartfelt plea.

Tim gazed at his reflection with his tired, green eyes. "You might deny it. Mark might deny it, but I know... the League will one day come for me and take me for my crime against them… justified or not. I've seen so many run and fall at their hands."

"You're gonna live to be an old man," I said, firmly, "and you're gonna ask yourself why the League is so blind and lazy… how your body is gonna kill you before they ever do… One day, you're gonna fall asleep and not wake up because you're gonna go to the happiest place of the afterlife because you more than deserve it."

Tim smiled softly. "I thought you were realistic."

I sighed. "I like to counterpoint... Tell people it can be different, because it can and might. Life doesn't often turn out as you picture it. I never pictured going dancing in Metropolis, for instance."

He chuckled.

"I'll hope all the best for you and Mark," I said.

"I will do same for you and Olivia."

"Hey, did you guys hear that there's an expo going down at S.T.A.R. labs this weekend?" Mark asked from the room.

Tim and I stepped out and saw a commercial for it on TV.

"Bruce Wayne is gonna be there," said Mark, pointing the remote at the TV.

 _Of course he is…_ "How about Lex Luthor?" I asked.

"Probably. Ugh, I loathe that smug scumbag." Mark turned off the TV. "My uncle would've kissed his shiny shoes if he wasn't worried about smudging the polish. 'Mark, why can't you be amazing and rich like that Lex Luthor?-Oh the media is just trying to demonize him again because he has money.-Are you still a security guard, Mark?-What's it like to work at LexCorp, Mark?-Rub elbows with him yet?'."

I sighed. "He's lawful evil."

"How can you be lawful and evil?" Tim asked, confused.

"There's a spectrum on morality," I said. "Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. Then, Good, Neutral, or Evil. Lawful Evil is when you have a code, but you would cheat others for personal profit if you could get away with it. They look respectable, but some people recognize they're corrupt."

"Sounds like Luthor," said Mark.

"And it's very much Penguin, too, but he also leans toward Neutral Evil which means you have a code of some sort, but occasionally you'll do whatever the hell you want. Joker is Chaotic Evil, meaning he does bad for the hell of it and just can't pass up a chance to be bad."

"What are we?" Tim asked.

"I'd say Chaotic Neutral? We do good and bad things-whatever we want."

"Speaking of doing what we want, time to go!" Mark exclaimed, pointing at the door.

He took us to the club. We met a group of pretty girls that gave Mark greeting kisses. We walked right through the door and strolled into this fancy-schmancy club. We hit the bar and Mark immediately went into dancing. I ordered a double shooter so I felt confident enough to dance.

Mark was agile as hell while he danced around his girl friends. Tim and I barely knew how to react at first as we watched. Then, Mark waved us over to the dance floor. Tim started mirroring Mark's movements a little stiffly. I just moved to the beat and stepped left and right. Sometimes, I jumped around with people.

Then, we noticed some guys breakdancing on the ground. Tim tried them out for himself.

"Oh my God, check out this middle-aged dude!" The DJ shouted out, spotlighting Tim's moves. "He's gonna break through dancefloor and grab China by the balls!"

Tim stopped, confused by what the DJ said. "What?"

People clapped around Tim, lifting him up over their heads. Mark jumped in to steal the spotlight. He pulled me in with him and spun me around him, lifting me up and rolling me over his back. Then, Mark spun me to the side and did some breakdancing of his own, throwing in handsprings and flips. I was absolutely breathless and astonished.

"Oh my God, he's smoking-he's on fire!" DJ shouted.

Tim came running over with a bucket of ice water, dumping it on Mark. The crowd gasped and clapped.

"Oh!" The DJ exclaimed "The other guy just iced him!"

Mark laughed at Tim, clapping him on the back. "It's just an expression, Buddy! Let's get a drink." He walked me and Tim over to the bar where we got some drinks.

Some girls crowded around Mark and Tim, pushing me off to the side. I shrugged and took my drink.

Suddenly, Mark sneezed and his eye popped out into his drink.

Several girls immediately scattered in disgust and horror.

Mark popped his glass eye back in the socket and winked at me as he held a stool for me.

I sat by him, shaking my head at him in bemusement..

"I wonder how many other guys gross out the girls with a fake eye," said Mark over the music.

"All of them," I said in his ear over the music.

Mark laughed. "Will you hate me if I try to get laid tonight?"

"Carpe diem," I said, holding up my glass.

"What?"

"Do what you want," I said, patting his shoulder.

"These girls are very friendly," said Tim, holding several napkins with numbers.

 _Oh God. They don't know Tim is a eunuch._

"Oh they'll forget you as soon they see another attractive guy," said Mark before taking a shot. He sighed. "Clubbing is hot and quick… You hook up and then never talk again unless you go clubbing to the same places. Then, it might get weird."

A new song came on.

"Oh! I love this song!" Mark got up and went dancing in the crowd again. Tim followed and I remained at the bar to rest and watch.

A young man with tan skin slid up to me as I took a sip of my drink. "I haven't seen you around before, Sunshine," he commented, smiling

"Well, I've never been here before," I replied, nicely. _Sleaze-Don't judge based on appearances... What are you up to, Weirdo?_

"The name's Marty Lebeau."

"Meredith," I said, nodding to him.

"Those guys your uncles?" He nodded to Mark and Tim.

"They're my friends."

"Nice. You lookin' to make _new_ friends?"

"Not really."

"Straight to the point. I like that, Mary Beth."

 _Meredith-ah it doesn't matter…_

Suddenly, the doors of the club were blasted open. A bright pink humanoid that had the skin texture of a burn victim stood in the doorway. "MAAAARTYYY!" He shouted with a twisted and horrible male voice. His circular mouth and eye holes glowed bright pink.

The music stopped and people started running away from the pink guy, screaming.

 _I have no idea who that is._

I looked at Marty Lebeau. He looked ready to piss himself.

 _Not my circus, not my monkeys._ Casually, I scooted off my seat and Marty grabbed a hold of me to shield himself from the pink guy.

"Don't move, Bitch." Marty put a gun to my head. "Don't come any closer, Rudy!"

Mark and Tim stood at the edge of the crowd, horrified.

"You think _I_ care if you shoot her?" The pink thing asked in a twisted voice, amused. "And the name is _Parasite_ … maybe you can guess why?"

Suddenly, I heard a gunshot. The bullet hit Marty, and I hopped over the bar to get away.

In the mirror on the wall, I could see Parasite run up to Marty. Marty shot at him with no luck. Parasite grabbed ahold of Marty. Marty screamed in pain, rolling his eyes back into his skull. Then, Marty deteriorated into broken bones within seconds.

 _It… sucked his life out…_

Horrified, I ran for it and the Parasite grabbed ahold of me. "Second course!" It held me with my back to his chest.

Agonized, I groaned as I felt my energy getting sucked out, but my body didn't fade into bones like Marty. It just really hurt and made me incredibly weak.

"What? What are you?" Parasite asked, confused.

I heard more gunshots as Mark and Tim fired at the pink monster.

While it was distracted, I butted Parasite with the back of my head. Weakly, I collapsed on the floor as he let me go.

Mark and Tim continued to shoot at the pink monster, carefully getting closer. Several bullets went into him and made him bleed. Then, one hit his head and bounced off his head, hitting Mark's shoulder.

I struggled to crawl away, but I felt so weak.

Tim rushed over to pick me up. The Parasite snarled and grabbed my leg again. Tim retreated and shot at him again.

 _Where the hell is the fucking Man of Steel? I can't even touch this guy without getting hurt._

Ignoring the pain and weakness, I focused all remaining energy into kicking Parasite in the groin as hard as I could.

The pink monster howled in pain, and I struggled to get away from him again when he let me go.

A man in an odd hazmat suit suddenly flew in and punched Parasite through the bar's wall of booze before it could grab me again.

I groaned with relief on the floor.

Mark and Tim rushed over to me, quickly picking me up.

"Meredith, are you all right?" Mark asked, horrified.

"I feel like a million bucks... that got dumped in the garbage," I said, dazed. "I need to sleep it off."

"Sure thing, Sweetie." Mark and Tim carried me out of the busted club doors.

"Wow! What's your secret?" A ginger-haired guy with a bow tie asked as he ran up to us. "You lasted a lot longer than that other guy."

"Beat it, you vulture," snarled Mark. "We just showed up to party and that thing just showed up, nearly killing her like that other guy."

"Any thoughts, Miss?" The Ginger guy asked me.

"Women on average live longer than men?" I suggested with a weak chuckle. "You have a cute boy tie-I mean bow tie."

"Oh, thank you," he said, blushing.

"Get out of her face, or I will break yours!" Mark said, pushing the ginger aside. They quickly got me away from the scene.

I awoke the next day, feeling a bit tired.

Mark and Tim were sleeping on either side of me with hands on my shoulders. Carefully, I got up to use the bathroom and ordered some room service. I was sore and a bit fatigued, but functioning.

When I got out of the bathroom, I stretched my back and sat out on the balcony to clear my head a bit.

I heard a knocking at the door and walked back inside.

Mark had his gun pointed at the door. His shoulder was wrapped up.

"It's just room service," I said, rubbing my eyes.

He reluctantly put his gun away. "Sorry. Just antsy after last night."

I opened the door and a lady rolled in with trays of food. She also had a Daily Planet Newspaper.

"Thank you," I said, sitting down to eat. I picked up the newspaper and glanced through while drinking coffee. Then, I noticed an article. " _Young Woman Stands Up To Parasite_?" I read aloud.

Mark groaned. "I knew that ginger was a reporter."

"What?" Tim asked, yawning.

"Meredith made the news."

I skimmed through the article. "It's just a retelling of last night from his perspective… asks who I am, what I am, and what this might mean for Metropolis." I sighed and threw the paper aside.

"At least, he didn't get any pictures of you." Mark picked up the paper to look for himself. "How are you feeling?"

"Fatigued," I said with a shrug.

"Talked things over last night, and we're thinking that Tim and I could take care of the heist leg-work today while you sit back," said Mark.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Just a bit _fatigued_. I mean Tim can steal the eye, but I'm still in this operation."

Mark sighed and picked up my phone to call Olivia. "Hey, she doesn't want to rest, says she's fine… yep."

"Tattletale," I said, taking the phone and biting into my sandwich.

"Do you realize that Parasite sucks out the lifeforce and abilities of other people?" Olivia said, flatly. "That even Superman has to wear a protective suit?"

"I have an impressive system of recovery and you know it. Superman's just made of stronger cells that become even stronger under a yellow sun."

"Please stop chewing in my ear, Meredith."

I set my sandwich down.

"Now, with that said, even Superman must need time to recover from a Parasite attack."

"Tim will be doing the legwork," I protested. "I'm just gonna micro-manage security at the expo with your help."

"Oh, that's fine, then," said Olivia.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Is Mark being a helicopter mom again?"

"Mmhm," I said, glancing over to Mark.

"Okay, let me talk to him."

I handed the phone back to Mark and continued eating.

"Yeah?" Mark answered. "... But Olivia… she's hungover and got attacked by that thing… You weren't even there!..." His nostrils flared and he started to pace around the room.

I glanced over to Tim as we ate quietly. "Well, other than that issue with Parasite, did you have fun dancing?"

Tim nodded.

"Me too."

Mark eventually returned to the table and gave me back to the phone, bitterly defeated.

I took the phone back. "Yeah?" I answered.

"I'll have something sent to your room to help me help you," said Olivia. "All you would have to do is keep it in your pocket and occasionally move closer to certain parts of the expo. I'll also be sending you a press pass and a disguise."

"Thanks."

"Call me when you get everything."

"Yep. Bye." I hung up.

Mark shook his head at me. "You Drifter girls are the most stubborn women I've ever met."

I shrugged and finished up my sandwich. "Women less stubborn than me are probably sheep, so I hope you didn't sleep with them."

Tim laughed and Mark snorted.

I later arrived at the expo wearing a long-haired brunette wig, glasses, and female pants suit. My tape recorder was secretly a manipulating device. I noticed Lois Lane and Clark Kent from the Daily Planet in the crowd. Bruce Wayne gave a speech, warming up the audience for the expo. Casually, I explored the booths, moving where Olivia required. Since Superman had super hearing, I had my movements written down on my notepad. Tim snuck into the ventilation and was working his way to getting the eye. As I leaned against the wall, I noticed Bruce Wayne walk by with reporters surrounding him. He noticed me, frowned, and then looked to a woman who wasn't holding a microphone. My stomach dropped and I immediately recognized her as none other than Talia al Ghul.

 _The assassins are here, Tim is in danger, and Bruce Wayne just ran into Talia._

Bruce smiled and took her on his arm, walking away with the reporters clamoring with questions.

I groaned, shaking my head. _Blinded by her beauty again. So stupid. I want to smack him across the face-_

"What do you think?" Clark Kent suddenly asked me.

I blinked, surprised. "Hmm?"

"You seemed pretty peeved about him walking off with that woman."

"Oh, you know," I said with a shrug. "Another one bites the dust in playboy land. He must love pain. You start to roll your eyes when you see him in public enough."

Then, Clark suddenly turned as though he heard something. "Excuse me."

"Sure."

Clark Kent walked out and a moment later I noticed Superman flying off outside. "Gee, I wonder who he is," I muttered to myself.

My phone rang and I answered it. "Yeah?"

"Got it," said Tim. "I'm headed out."

"Great... You might wanna put a bag on your head or something," I said casually.

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"They're here."

"They?"

I sighed. "You know that group of assholes that fired you for nothing?"

"The League?"

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd remember. Can't wait until I get out of this town. Every time I bump into them they are such pretentious pricks. Have you left work yet?"

"I'm headed out now. Meet me in the alley."

"K, bye." I hung up and headed out of the expo to find Tim in the alley, wearing a mask.

Tim was wide-eyed and keeping low. "What did you see?"

"The daughter," I said, taking off my press pass and hot jacket. "They're probably just following and being her personal guard, but precautions." I adjusted his mask so it was a beanie. Then, I put my glasses on his face. I threw my jacket and press pass in a dumpster. I dropped my dress pants so I was wearing gym shorts. Then, I took off my blouse to reveal my tank top.

"You sure this is enough?" He asked pointing at himself as he took his shirt off to reveal his own tank top.

 _Works for Clark Kent._ "You'd be surprised how different glasses make you look." I put my arm around him and walked him down several blocks over to the truck where Mark was waiting.

"What was she doing?" Tim asked.

"Wooing Mr. Wayne."

"I wonder what they want with him."

"Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure he can handle it himself."

Suddenly, Tim stepped in front of me, looking pale. He hugged me and buried his face in my shoulder. Several tattooed men walked by while I hugged him back.

"You just gotta hang in there, Uncle Phil," I said. "The divorce is halfway over already, and she'll be off to ruin someone else's life."

We stood there for a moment and then continued walking in silence.

As soon as we got inside the truck and shut the door, Mark looked over to us. "We good?"

"Yep," I said. "Drive."

"Okay then." He drove off through Metropolis. "You two are quiet."

"Meredith recognized some people," said Tim as he took off his bag. "People that aren't very fond of me."

Mark glanced over me, startled, and started driving faster. He drove to the airport, past security, and into the private hangars. Mark and Tim hopped out and hauled their luggage into the cargo hold. I hopped in the driver's seat and waited.

"Okay, all set," said Mark. "Are you feeling better, Meredith?"

"I'll be fine," I said dismissively. "Just get going. You're at risk the longer you stay. See you soon." I checked Tim's bag for the robotic eye and I saw it in there.

Mark reached in and hugged me. Tim did the same.

"Be careful," said Mark. "If you need to rest, you pull over."

"Okay." _I've done longer drives overnight._

"Okay." He sighed and stepped back with Tim. I drove off, returning to Gotham City.

I returned to Olivia's place and found her resting upstairs with the cat. Casually, I lied beside her as she gazed up to the ceiling with the painted dream world. I realized something was different in the painting. Above me was translucent silhouette of a woman in the clouds. Her eyes were a prettier blue in the sky.

"I knew something was missing," Olivia commented. "So with my dad's blessing, I fixed the painting to give it a storm... so I'd always have one. Even when you were gone."

"Looks too pretty to be me," I commented.

"Then, you need to get your vision checked because that's who I see."

I smiled softly. "Didn't know you had your Dad's talent."

I felt Olivia shrug. "Not exactly. I just pay attention to fine details and style. I'm rarely so inspired as he was. My version of a painting is smacking my face into a white canvas because I don't know what to do with this flat canvas attached to a board. It just doesn't have purpose other than decoration and down-time staring..."

I chuckled. "I didn't think you'd miss me that much."

"I didn't either. I mean you were only here for a month and gone for half a week."

"Mark and Tim definitely want to quit for good..."

Olivia sighed. "They've been through a lot. What do you think?"

"I'm just not ready to quit I guess."

"Me either," said Olivia.

"...I wish you could come with us on this trip."

"I know." Olivia was silent.

"I don't mean to pressure you at all... Just meant to bring across the sentiment."

"I know. I wish I could come, too... which brings me to a tangent." She smirked at me. "I got a gift for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, wait here." She got up and I heard her stroll downstairs.

Sighing, I sat up and leaned against the wall, waiting. Suddenly, a stuffed rabbit with brown and pink fur landed on the bed and waved at me. After recovering from the surprise, I waved at the rabbit and it handed me a bluetooth earpiece. I picked it up and put it on my ear.

"Cool, right?" Olivia asked.

"Cool and cute, " I commented as it held out its paw. I touched the paw and the bunny kissed my hand. The sides of my mouth curled in bemusement and awe.

"So other than being an awesome hacker, I also have a talent for robotics."

The bunny waved for me to follow. As I got up, it darted down the basement stairs. "It's fast," I commented, following it down.

"Well, why have a robot bunny if isn't fast?"

The bunny stood on the postal desk at attention.

Olivia was sitting in her chair with a visor covering her eyes. There was a game controller in her hand. "It's essentially virtual reality on a whole other level," said Olivia. "It's got gadgets and tools hidden inside, so it can run around and do stuff. I can also experience life as if I was there with you."

The stuffed rabbit hopped into my arms and snuggled me. "Aw," I commented.

"It's also got an armored, stealth mode."

It hopped down to the ground. Small sections of the fur clicked and rotated into an armored bunny with red eyes. It had little turrets on its arms and shoulders.

"Aw," I said again.

"But if this guy ever gets caught. I'll have to self-destruct the technology. I don't like people taking my toys."

"Aw," I said sadly.

"It's okay," said Olivia as she lifted up her helmet. "After making the prototype, they're easy to make and update. I got three more and a prototype."

"These would make amazing toys," I commented.

"Oh yeah, but they'd be very expensive for the general public. Only rich kids could afford it and the military would want the technology for surrogate soldiers." She pressed a button and the stuffed rabbit returned to its pink and brown fur.

"That's why you don't sell it?"

"I'd rather sell it where I'm not affected by it. These can cause a lot of trouble in the wrong hands. I mean you can mod it so the robot can only be ten feet away from the user, but there's always a way around things if you have a brain in your skull. Regulating the usage would be such a bitch. Then, other people would try to sell shittier ones that break down easier, pirate the programming."

"How do you make them?" I asked, looking around the basement. I haven't seen any robot related things or tools lying around.

Ollie gave me the biggest grin. "Level -1."

I stared at her. "The basement has a basement?"

"Wanna see?"

"No, I have a date with Lex Luthor," I said sarcastically. "Let's go! Let's go!" I exclaimed, dancing in place.

"Give me a sec while I shut down RABBOT." She pressed a center button on her controller and RABBOT fell limp on the ground. I picked it up gently and it felt about as soft as a regular stuffed animal.

 _Rabbit-Robot... Clever._ "Cute name."

"Ha, you should hear the program name." Olivia set her helmet in a drawer in her desk before she walked over to the bathroom.

I followed her into the bathroom. She stepped into the shower and I followed awkwardly.

"What's the program name?" I asked.

"MEREVIA."

I blushed. "You combined our names?"

"Would've done the last names but they sounded weird as hell. Mind shutting the door?" Olivia asked as she opened up a panel of tile under the shower head.

 _Hmm. MEREVIA. OLIDETH... Wow, last one is pretty metal, but I guess the first one was prettier._ I walked back over to the bathroom door and closed it before re-entering the shower with Olivia.

The panel she opened under the shower head had three black buttons in a vertical row. Olivia pressed the middle and top buttons and sighed rather loudly.

"Voice confirmation and password accepted," said a high-toned, robotic voice. "Welcome, Olivia and Friend." The shower started sinking down into the ground like an elevator and stopped ten feet down.

Olivia opened the shower door and stepped out first, flipping on a light in a second bathroom. As she touched the knob for the bathroom door, Olivia looked at me with a serious face. "Keep in mind... No one knows about this except you and me, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Absolutely," I said with a nod.

"Okay." Olivia smiled and opened the door. Bright blue lights automatically flickered on. It was a robotics shop lab and storage room twice the size of her basement. Several robot skeletons and parts hung about the ceiling a seemingly specific order. There were white cabinets with various labels in the right corner by us. Further down were metal shelves had open boxes of wire screws, nuts, bolts, and other small parts. Then, a large work bench with a wall of tools hanging in their marked places. Next to that, a drawing table with several drawers and a lamp. On the left side, he had a welding area and place with saws and industrial sewing machines. There was a door labeled plastics and chemical storage. It had a ventilating system attached to it. In the far back, there were large, humming machines that may or may not be generators. I honestly had no idea. The floor and walls of the entire room were concrete. Ollie had hung up motivational posters and a few steampunk dream Webber paintings here and there.

"And you were on me about keeping secrets?" I commented as Olivia walked me around.

"Well, you don't get nuts about secrets like me," said Olivia, winking at me. "You let things go like the nice person you are." She opened up a set of cabinets and showed me the other RABBOTs that were hanging by their feet.

I jumped a little when I noticed the black, spiders that were as big as my palms sitting at the bottom of the cabinet. A couple were shiny silver. _They had to be robots._

"Those are my ARACHMECHs," said Olivia proudly. "They are my bugging devices and a successful result of nanotech experiments." She picked one up and set it in my hand. "Looks like an actual spider, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I said, looking at the little eyes that were probably cameras and microphones. The "hairs" were probably sensors. "Wow." I poked at it and touched the stiff little fibers.

"I'm working on creating an A.I. program that will allow them to spot and eliminate pests from mice to lice."

I scratched my brow. "Wouldn't the lice make the spiders jump on people's heads and scare the shit out of them?"

"They should be more scared about the lice on their head. Euuuugh." Olivia shook her head in disgust and set the ARACHMECH back in the cabinet. "I mean my ARACHMECHs aren't built-in with poison glands or anything. They just move fast and look like spiders, but they are completely artificial. Plus, they going to be far more intelligent and pleasant with the A.I.." She closed the cabinet. "Household ARACHMECHs will look far more friendlier than the bug ARACHMECHs since you're clearly arachnophobic like most people."

"I'm not scared of them," I protested. "They just make me jump a bit and I don't like little things crawling on me without permission."

"I figured," said Olivia with a shrug. "I mean you didn't exactly scream and run away."

"So how many other robots do you have?" I asked.

She considered. "HUBRIS, how many robots do I have?" Olivia asked, loud and clear.

"You have 68 completed robots including prototypes," said the high robotic voice through the sound system.

"How many projects?"

"1,115 incomplete projects."

I stared at Olivia in amazement.

"Thank you, HUBRIS." Olivia shrugged. "I get a lot of ideas, but ideas take time and money. I'm only person. I mean Level -1 took six months to get the concrete laid out and -2 and -3 are still in progress because I've had prototype and digging mishaps that I've had to work out."

"Don't you have to worry about pipes and the power grid at all?" I asked, looking around.

"Good question. I specifically chose this spot because it was at the edge of the grid and plumbing. Note that there is an open field next to my house owned by a company called Felix, Inc. ... secretly owned by me. I plucked the land up from a local farmer. I'm working on making it into a park open to the public... Maybe I can walk through it someday with you."

"I would like that," I said, smiling softly. "And I'm glad you're making these levels. You won't have to blow yourself up if there's a break-in."

"Well, as long as I get downstairs in time," said Olivia as she gazed up at the ceiling. "I have a higher chance of survival, but there's also a chance of me being buried alive. There's a lot of supplies, but if ventilation is blocked I could asphyxiate. I'm also working on defense mechanisms to protect me from intruders to prevent the need of self-destruct altogether. There's a few set up in case of a basic home robbery, but if the intruders are decently armed I'll have to go into self-destruct..." Her hazel eyes grew heavy with worry and she looked at me, pleading. "I... can't, Meredith. I just-cannot go through that again..."

"I understand," I said, holding her gaze. "I just want to make sure you're gonna be okay-That nothing happens to you. You're brilliant, absolutely wonderful. I'm not technically inclined, but if there's anything I can do to help let me know, please."

"Absolutely. I wouldn't trust anyone else... Meredith?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we... going too fast?" She asked, frowning to herself as she leaned on a table. "Are we feeling too fast? Does that mean we're gonna burn out fast?"

I shrugged. "I'm not particularly experienced... but from what I know, everyone is different. You and I are pretty odd people... And technically going too fast usually means we're jumping into sex after the first date... but we're not doing anything. We're just opening up to each other because we feel like we can trust each other... I guess? Maybe it feels a little fast because we're not used to trusting people so strongly. That can make either of us pretty scared or paranoid."

"Yeah," Olivia said with a nod. "I'm not used to feeling like this."

"Me either."

"I just want to share everything with you. Logically, I feel like I'm going crazy. Not thinking straight. I mean what if something happens? You suddenly turn into a bitch and take everything away from me? You know?"

I shrugged. "What if you announce my secrets to world on the internet? We could easily ruin each other's lives... but I'm pretty sure we're not those kind of people. The real psychos of the world... To be honest, I'm more likely to hurt and blame myself than another person."

"That's a fair point... and I loathe that attribute," said Olivia. "I mean it's one thing to take blame for your own mistakes, but for things that aren't hardly your fault?... It's like what my grandma used to tell me." Olivia touched my shoulders. "'Love yourself, Sweet Potato,'" she said with a slightly deeper yet womanly voice.

"Sweet Potato?" I asked, chuckling.

Olivia frowned and removed her hands from my shoulders. "What? My grandma used to call me 'Sweet Potato' because I loved sweet potatoes. What's wrong with Sweet Potato?"

I had a random thought and continued chuckling. "I'm sorry I'm just-" I couldn't finish my sentence because I started giggling behind my hands.

Olivia was so confused. "What? Tell me? What's wrong with sweet potato?!"

I took a breath. "Okay, so I just imagined you as little sweet potato," I said between chuckles. "You got a little, pink bow at the top and you're like 'ooohhhh... I'm just a sweet potatooooo'," I did a falsetto sing-song voice. "Grandma's like 'love yourself, Sweet Potato'. And you're like, 'love myseeeelf, Sweet Potatooooo'." I buried my face in my hands and continued to laugh.

"What the fuck?" Ollie said with a high voice before she started chuckling at me. "How? What planet do you come from?"

"Sweet Potatooooo!" I said, outstretching my arms.

We both nearly died from laughing.

"God, that is so stupid and random," said Olivia, holding her sides. "Why am I laughing?" She wiped tears from her eyes.

I sniffed and giggled behind my hands.

"You just ruined a fond memory with my grandmother," said Olivia, shaking her head at me.

"I'm sorry," I said, smiling but genuinely concerned.

"I had good memories of eating sweet potatoes and my grandma calling me her Sweet Potato… but from now on when I think of sweet potato, I'm going to immediately remember 'love me, Sweet Potatooooo!'" She imitated my silly voice.

I put my arms around her, knowing she was only half-mad at me. Swaying with her, I sung in the tune of Love Me Tender by Elvis. "Love me... Potato…. Love me Sweet… Sweeeet Potaaatooooo…"

Olivia sighed, swaying with me. "You're such a weirdo."

"Promise you won't hate me?" I asked.

"What is it?"

"I never really cared for sweet potatoes," I said.

Olivia gasped and pushed me aside, covering her ears. "Blasphemer!"

I pouted. "They taste weird…"

"Your taste buds are weird!"

"Well, I'm not sure if they're that weir-"

"Weird!" She exclaimed, covering her eyes.

"Okay, let's just say that you're the only sweet potato for me."

"Awww," said Olivia, touching her red cheeks.

My phone started ringing. I sighed. "It's probably Mark." I answered. "Yeah?"

"Did you get Olivia's safely?" Mark asked. There was a slight hum in the background.

"Yes, Mark," I said with a sigh.

"Just making sure."

"Shouldn't you be in the air still?" I asked.

"Oh, we are, but you know? Plane phones."

Olivia slid up to me and kissed my neck. Chills went down my back.

"Oh yeah," I said keeping my voice steady. "Yeah, everything's fine. Real... peachy."

"Are you okay?" Mark asked.

"Yes. How is Tim doing?"

"Still a little shaken, but I think he's getting better. I've never seen him so scared."

"Me either," I said, feeling tingles in my face, "but ah, Olivia needs my help with something. Talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye."

I hung up and set my phone back in my pocket.

"Did Tim get hurt or something?" Olivia asked, leaning against my shoulder.

"No, he just got a blast from the past," I explained. "We saw a few members of the League running around in Metropolis."

"That group that attempted to execute him over a drawing?" Olivia asked, frowning.

"Yep. I don't think they noticed him. He was really scared."

"Do you personally know anything about them?"

"Too much," I said, shaking my head. "They're called the League of Assassins or The Demon. It's an international group that's been run by Ra's al Ghul for over 600 years. While I was at the expo, I saw Ra's' daughter, Talia al Ghul making googly eyes at Bruce Wayne. Their relationship is an on-and-off intense, but in the end she always remains loyal to her father and his work."

"How can a man be alive that long?" Olivia asked, fascinating.

"He occasionally takes a dip in the Lazarus Pit that he has kept secret all this time," I continued. "Unfortunately, the contents of the pit have questionable side effects as well as healing/resurrection properties... Usually driving the user a little more insane with each use. Some versions say that a healthy young person could die in it… but everything about that group is deep in secrets. Anyone who knows anything about them knows to keep his or her mouth shut."

"What are they about?"

I shrugged. "Balancing the scale with lethal force, destroying corruption... gathering knowledge and keeping secrets… Ra's is also looking for a successor that can stand by his daughter."

"Like Bruce Wayne?" Olivia asked, putting two-and-two together.

"Precisely."

Olivia grinned big. "He's Batman, isn't he?"

I blushed a bit. "Yep."

"Makes so much sense it hurts. How did no one figure this out?"

I put my hands in my pockets. "Well... a few people have. They just don't talk about it."

"Who?"

"For sure, Ra's al Ghul, members of the League, and Professor Strange."

"Well shit… Tell me more."

I continued, telling her just about everything I knew about Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and the very few things I knew about Arkham Knight. It kinda surprised me how much I remembered.

"Just a recap. What was the purpose of that TITAN project?" Olivia asked.

"It's intent is allow a patient to be strong enough to withstand extremely intensive treatments for more severe cases. Dr. Young essentially drained Bane of his Venom formula to create a stronger dose contained in one shot. Unlike Bane, the TITAN doesn't require a consistent flow of formula from a tank, but it makes the patients strong as Bane and viciously angry. Thankfully, it's not permanent. Mostly depends on how fast you burn through the formula, but the after effects are pretty painful. Dr. Young's being funded by-"

"-Jack White," said Olivia with a sigh. "One of Joker's aliases, but Batman stops him?"

"Yep…"

After a while we went back upstairs and I ended up lying on the couch while I continued to talk about things I knew. My energy was extremely low. Chekhov's antics with his toys started to get annoying, but I did my best to ignore him.

"And you didn't know anything about Parasite?" Olivia asked.

"Dude, there's a lot of things I _don't_ know," I said, holding my head. "I'm above average on knowledge, but there is so much more. The Arkhamverse opened a door to Gotham and kind of allowed fans to assume the rest of the Universe has parts and pieces of the older mediums. It's probably more than 50 years worth of variable publications. I only know of a handful of Superman villains: Lex Luthor, Bizarro Superman, General Zod, umm… Livewire… and now Parasite. For Green Lantern, I know Sinestro and that one Guardian that went bad. Since the Green Lanterns are like a universal police, they probably have _hundreds_ of different enemies that I've never heard of…" I looked over to Olivia. "Just promise you'll keep this to yourself."

Olivia crossed her heart. "I promise… You're looking really tired."

"I am really tired," I said with a yawn. My eyes felt so heavy.

"And you've been wearing that wig that whole time."

"I have?" I commented, touching my head. I was still wearing the burnette wig from the Metropolis heist.

Olivia pulled out pins in my hair and worked that wig off my head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, a little annoyed.

"Sorry, thought you were having fun with your new wig."

After she finished, I groaned and went upstairs.

"Also, Meredith?" Olivia asked.

"Hmm?" I grunted.

"Might wanna start keeping a lower profile after that incident with Parasite. People are gonna start looking for you if they aren't already."

"It wasn't my fault," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"I know. Shit happens sometimes."

I grunted and continued upstairs. After jumping in the shower, I flopped on the bed and tried to get some rest.

 _My sleep was disturbed with running dreams and a little monster that kept pinching my ear. Eventually, it stopped and I got into the middle of a hedge maze. There were different options, but I didn't know where to go. I was frozen for a while and then I tried one and kept ending up in the middle of the maze again. I felt a part of me zoomed up to the sky and saw that there were no escapes._

 _As I landed back down, I found a lighter in my pocket and started burning holes into the hedges, thoroughly finished with the bullshit. When I reached the outside, I turned back and saw that the rest of the maze was smoldering piles. Only a flower remained. I considered stomping on it but sighed and left it alone instead._

I opened my eyes and sighed as I saw Chekhov staring into my face with his pretty green eyes. He meowed at me, putting his paws on my face.

"Baby, I'm tired," I groaned. Pushing the gray kitten back, I turned over on my other side.

Chekov meowed again and climbed over my waist to attack my hand. Jumping around playfully, he forgot about the edge and fell off.

I snickered a little.

He meowed up to me again.

"No, your access card has been revoked," I said with a smirk.

"Meow."

I lied on my stomach and buried my face in my pillow. "Go play with Olivia."

Suddenly, I felt Olivia lie down on my back with her arms under mine. "But Olivia has been up since this morning," she whined in my ear.

I turned my head so I didn't get smothered in my pillow. We were cheek to cheek.

"You're trapped," she murmured. "You're gonna be tormented by me and the kitty until the end of time."

I chuckled. "You don't weigh that much."

"I'm the big monkey stuck on your back. You can't get rid of me."

I turned to kiss her cheek seductively and tossed her off my back while her grip was a little loose.

"Fwah!" Olivia said in surprise as she landed on her side, barely missing Chekhov.

I got up and walked over to the bathroom.

"Hey, no fair," she declared.

I blew her a kiss and locked the door behind me.

"By the way, I set up an appointment between you and Lucy!" Olivia called after me. "It's some sort of game day for the good behavior people. Her parents asked if you could go visit her."

"Okay," I said.

After my time in the bathroom, Olivia gave me some clothes to wear and helped me with the strawberry-blonde wig. Olivia put on my freckles before I put on the glasses.

She followed me to the door. "Have fun playing checker with the loony, Mary Smith." Olivia slapped me on the butt before I went out the door.

"Aw that's mean, Olivia," I said, touching my butt.

"We're all loonies, Babe, but I do feel bad for slapping you on the rear. I'm sorry."

I chuckled. "Make me a sandwich."

"Nah, I'll order some Thai food," said Olivia. She blew a kiss and swiftly closed the door.

Shaking my head at her, I hopped into my truck and drove to the asylum. The radio was hopping with fun music, making me bob my head to the beat.

I went through the visitor center and was led into a common room. Lucy smiled at me softly as she sat at a table playing a card game with some girls I knew along with a couple guests I didn't know. The girls were Chantal, Hikaru, and Fairy. Chantal was a Brunette that didn't talk and reacted violently when people tried to make her talk. She had occasionally stood by me and was my roommate. Hikaru was dark haired and mostly mostly spoke Japanese, but I was told she murdered one of her schoolmates in a vicious rage. Most girls called her Hiki and she didn't care for it. I called her Hikaru and she started calling me _Onee-San_ , meaning big sister. Fairy was a blonde girl who thought she was a fairy that lost her powers. She jumped off a two-story house trying to fly, but Fairy was all mended now. I had only known her in passing.

Hikaru smiled at me. "Ohayo, Onee-San."

"Ohayo," I said with a polite nod.

Lucy looked around. "Nurse Hannah, could you take my spot in the game? My cousin just got here."

A female nurse in white with her brown hair in a ponytail walked up to the table with a sweet smile. "Sure, Lucy." I had never seen her before, but she seemed genuinely nice, down-to-earth.

They traded places and Lucy walked up to me to give me a hug. It wasn't as strong as usual. She seemed reluctant about it.

"Let's talk over here." Lucy led me over to a table with a chess game and gazed off through the barred window. There was no more pink in her hair. We moved pieces mindlessly while we talked. I never had a good strategy for chess.

Lucy sighed before speaking. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" I asked, blinking.

"About Mark and Tim," she said lowly.

I frowned. "What do you mean? They're fine."

She frowned. "But... the Penguin said…"

"What did he say?" I asked, with a raised brow.

Lucy looked at me. "The disfigured eye he sent me was all that was left of my friends, so he sent me a way to remember them."

I scoffed. "He's just a sore loser because they sank his boat. I don't know whose eye that belonged to, but your friends are fine. In fact, they left the country and retired."

"Is Meredith and Advocate retired?"

"Nope. Taking a small break, but we're definitely not retired. I'm gonna be doing a lot of traveling personally, but I'll still visit you."

"Well, don't go out of your way."

"It's really not that out of my way," I said with a shrug.

Lucy's brow furrowed. "I appreciate everything you've done for me. I'm starting to remember."

"Yeah?"

"Advocate had pink hair and glasses, right?"

I smiled. "Certainly does."

"And I remember being in a band and a gang. I remember parts and pieces of everything, really. They're slowly forming together to make a complete picture."

"That's great, Lucy."

"I don't like everything I see about myself. The way I treated people-hurt them. I'm getting more into music again. Once I get parole, I'm gonna join a band again, but I'm gonna cut myself off from crime. If I wanna get better, I gotta cut myself from the Drifters, too… Please understand," she implored.

"I understand," I said, assuring her. "But let us know if you ever change your mind or get in trouble. Trouble might wanna follow you after the stuff you've got into. You gotta be prepared for that. People like Penguin and Joker don't just let go because you turn a new leaf. Tell your parents to leave Gotham. Then, you leave Gotham, change your name, and never come back. Understand?"

Lucy nodded.

I leaned forward. "We could pull you out and relocate you all this week if you want. Are still feeling safe here?"

"A little unnerved by the eyeball thing, but otherwise fine. Just leave my life in my hands, Mary. Thank you for everything." She knocked down my king chess piece with her queen.

 _Cold._ "Okay." I stood up and held out my hand. "Good game, Lucy."

Lucy stood up and shook my hand firmly. "Good game... Meredith."

We parted ways, and I headed to the exit.

"Onee-San!" Hikaru called after me.

I turned around and Hikaru gave me a big hug and a kiss, sticking something in my pocket. "Sayonara, Onee-san."

"Sayonara, Hikaru-chan," I replied with a smile, patting her back.

Some orderlies and nurses looked at us in concern. I waved dismissively at them, trying to convey that things were fine.

Hikaru skipped away back to her table. Chantal gave me a nod.

I nodded to her and continued to the door, not checking my pocket until I got into my truck.

In my pocket, I found notes. Hikaru had written something in Japanese and had drawn a flattering picture of me with a sword covered in blood. Chantal wrote: "Goddess of Vengeance, your friend is a bitch, so I stuck her brush in toilet water. Only sorry because she says you're friends. Hope you are well. If you can, please send me a book to read." Several other women of the ward sent me various other letters wishing me well and asking for stuff. One asked me to kill Dr. Young for confiscating her stash of cigarettes.

I smiled a bit and put the notes back in my pocket.

When I returned home, Olivia had laid out Thai food on the dining table upstairs.

"How'd it go?" Olivia asked as I sat down. "That was pretty fast."

"She says she's quitting crime, joining a band once she's on parole, and excommunicating us. Penguin also sent her a disfigured eyeball, saying that we were dead."

Olivia shrugged. "Deadshot probably pulled a Huntsman on Penguin, giving him a random eyeball in a box. It's probably for the best. Lucyfer caused a lot of grief for us when she still had her head together... Fuck her.

"Even so, I still want you to keep an eye out for Professor Strange," I said.

"Obviously… do you think he'd pose a threat to me?"

"Maybe," I said, frowning to myself. "How's -2 and -3 coming?"

"Getting there, but I also need to figure out the park," Olivia stretched her fingers.

I leaned back. "How many people know where the Advocate lives?"

Olivia considered. "You, Mark, Tim, and maybe Lucy if she remembers."

"Did you ever talk to anyone about digging deeper?"

"At best, I talked to a contractor about the possibility of putting a pool in my basement. Then, I never talked to him again."

I dug into the food. "Well, once the takeover of the asylum happens, you'll want to have the house go dark. If there's no trace of your presence in the house and neighbors think you left, they'll think so, too."

She nodded. "Do you know if the TYGER guys have tanks?"

"Armored cars and helicopters. Military grade if not higher. I don't know what weapons they have exactly-they're top of the line?"

"Well, I suppose it's always good to prepare for the worst," said Olivia with a shrug. "But it's ridiculously expensive and time-consuming."

I nodded.

"Might have to start robbing casinos."

"Treasure hunt. X marks the spot."

We chuckled.

"Like pirates could even find that much treasure," said Olivia rolling her eyes.

"...Otherwise, I got some nice notes from the female ward." I set them on the table. "Some of them kinda read like letters to Santa except it's addressed to the _Goddess of Vengeance_. You think we can help them out?"

"If you want to, there's plenty of ways to smuggle stuff in if it's light," Olivia said with a smirk. She shook her head at me. "Goddess of Vengeance… you're more like a goddess of snuggles."

I smirked. "Yeah… Bane's a snuggler, too."

Olivia blinked in surprise. "Wait what?"

 _Haha. Let's see how far I can go with this._ "Yeah, he was the little spoon. He was cold and smaller because he ran out of juice."

She shook her head at me. "I know you're being sarcastic, but you would totally do that. You're too nice."

I chuckled. "I meant it in the sense he occasionally squeezes his enemies to death when he isn't snapping their backs like twigs."

Olivia shook her head. "Yeah, what a beast... Speaking of Bane, I sent a few warning emails to Dr. Young about her TITAN project."

I raised a brow. "Oh?"

"Told her to quit while she was ahead and her primary funder was the Joker. She's too green to outfox someone like him."

I hmm'ed in agreement. "Might be too late. By the time she figured what was really going on and tries to quit, Joker starts sending her death threats."

"Bite off too much and you choke," said Olivia. "I thought it was worth a try."

We spent a few weeks together while Olivia worked on Mark's new eye, and we smuggled gifts into the asylum using ARACHMECHs. Whenever one of us wasn't busy, we'd bother the busier one. After a while, we just started leaving each other alone so we didn't get on each other's nerves too much. I was half-glad I'd be doing a lot of trips after I delivered Mark's new eye. Olivia was also putting together a housewarming gift basket that had American goods as well as some names and numbers that Mark and Tim could utilize to be independent of Olivia and me.

Olivia also talked me into getting a haircut, dyeing my hair bright blue and trying some new styles of clothing that made me look more of an adult, but a fun one at the same time. I guess t-shirts make you look like a kid. I didn't mind as long as I looked and felt good.

We also discussed an armor design for future mercenary and thieving work. Lucyfer was originally against it because it would've made the gang look uniform and like we're copying assassins like Deadshot or Deathstoke. Admittedly, my regeneration worked well against weaponry, but it was important to hide that. It would also make my strikes hurt more, shield me from explosions and fire, carry my gadgets, and allow me to move stealthily and quickly. I needed a little extra edge if Olivia and I wished to continue an otherwise successful business of larceny.

"...The suit will take more time to work out and finish," said Olivia as we visited in Level -1. She was putting Mark's new eye in a nice box. "You can go ahead to Munich to spend some time with those retirees. I'll mail it to you when I'm done." She handed me the eye box. "Your flight is already set in hanger A6 at 7 PM."

"Thank you, Olivia," I said, holding the box.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't forget who does the most of the work on this team."

 _Ow… Cranky or blunt? I… suppose she's right though._

Shrugging, I kissed her cheek. "I know. I'm just the pinkie toe that awkwardly bumps into stuff." I walked over to the bathroom to exit. "Hopefully I can pack for myself."

"Whoa whoa," said Olivia, following me. "I didn't mean it like that, Mere. You do a good job."

 _Blunt, I guess._

"I know," I said, forcing a smile. _Just keep your fucking sensitivity to yourself, Meredith. You'll realize better once you've had some time to think to yourself._ "I was just bouncing off your comment."

"Okay, cool. Sometimes, crap just flies out my mouth," said Olivia before walking back to her next project.

As I turned away, I sighed soundlessly and got into the shower elevator.

 _I do the legwork she can't manage with her robots or the internet… I'm her whatever…_

 _But she micro-manages every detail while I sit back and watch. I hardly know how she does all the things she does. I'm just not as type A as she is…_

I got on the basement floor and Chekhov was waiting in the bathroom for me. Sighing, I walked by him. I expected him to follow me upstairs, but he purred around my legs and waited for Olivia. He had food in his bowl upstairs, so he couldn't be hungry. It depressed me and made me happy for her at the same time.

 _Then again, all Chekhov would do is get in the way and get his fur on everything. Don't know what I'm depressed about._

I packed my stuff into one bag and flopped on the bed.

 _She manages my travel, my ID, my disguises, my clothes… most of my life…_

 _Well, it's not like I know what to do with my life other than steal stuff to maintain my lifestyle… What did I originally want anyway?_

 _I wanted the performing arts… to travel… maybe write a best-selling novel or screenplay… voice-acting, sing… I suppose to be a performing monkey like I am now._

I groaned. _I'm too pessimistic to think of anything nice…_ I looked up to the ceiling with a dream painting secured it with my image.

"Sweet dreams are made of these," I sung lowly in Marilyn Manson's tone.

"Who am I to disagree?

Traveled the world and the seven seas.

Ev'rybody is lookin' for somethin'.

Some of them want to use you.

Some of them want to be used by you.

Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be abused."

Unable to look at the ceiling anymore, I picked up my bag and went downstairs, ready to go. I called a cab, so I didn't need to park a car at the airport. My passport and payment for the private flight was on the desk. I put them in a front part of my bag.

Olivia came up, and I saw Chekhov leap into her arms. "Oh, you must be hungry," she commented to him, surprised.

"Mind if I use your front door?" I asked. "I called a cab for the airport."

"Sure, just throw on a hat. It's gonna be chilly over there, and your hair is gonna be too fabulous for people to handle." Olivia put a stocking cap on my head and adjusted my jacket, wiping away any gray cat hair. "I'd pinch your cheeks, too," said Olivia jokingly as she picked up the basket and walked upstairs, "but you've probably had enough pinching for a lifetime."

I snorted. "Yeah."

She unlocked both doors. We sat in the living room together, kinda quiet.

Olivia stroked Chekhov's fur. I stared off.

"Hey, Meredith?" Olivia asked.

"Hmm?" I looked over to her.

"Is there a villain trope where a villain turns around in their chair, petting a cat in their lap?"

"Absolutely. I think it started with James Bond or something."

"James Bond?" Olivia frowned.

I chuckled. "Only the most popular spy character ever... I just never really got into it, personally. It's just been mocked and imitated enough that I sorta know what's going on."

"I know that feeling… Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, just tired. I just need time to gather myself, but I guess I'll have plenty of that on my flight."

"Sure. Did you eat anything?"

"Yep." _Nope._ "Did you ever figure out what sort of trees you wanted to plant in the park?"

"Oh yes, I was actually wanting your opinion on that."

"My opinion?" I asked surprised.

"Oh my head has been all sorts of busy with robots and your suit-I've barely looked at the park to be honest, but I really need to get it done. You're more artistically inclined than me, and you know a great botanist. So, maybe you can get some ideas going and I can work out schematics and specifics... If you want to? No pressure."

 _You're throwing me a bone to chew. Trying to make me feel better about myself. It might be working._ "Yeah, I could try something."

"Great! Thanks."

"One question though?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I frowned. "You think I'm an artist?"

Olivia chuckled. "You write poetry and doodle on my notepad while I'm in the shop, you dork."

"Oh right," I said with a smirk.

Olivia shook her head at me. "I'm sure it'll be beautiful."

I nodded.

"In fact, borrow my upstairs laptop." She walked over to her dining table and packed up her laptop.

"Olivia you don't have to."

"No, no, it's got everything you need and I have a ton of computers downstairs. In fact, it would also be a nice backup if I can't update RABBOT remotely."

"Shit, I forgot to pack the RABBOT!" I exclaimed annoyed with myself.

We heard a honk outside.

"Tell him to run the meter while I get the RABBOT," said Olivia as she ran downstairs.

"Okay." I picked up my stuff and packed the laptop away with the charger in its bag. I managed to get out of the house with my stuff. The cab driver opened up the trunk for me and helped me place my stuff. It was an older, dark-skinned man with a fedora.

Olivia came running out with the RABBOT and handed it to me.

My stomach dropped in shock. _Don't panic, Olivia. Don't panic. Just return to the house before you realize you left._

"Thanks," I said, smiling at her. "Keep the meter running, please?" I nodded to the cabbie.

He nodded and closed the trunk. "Your time."

Olivia was suddenly stiff as a mannequin as the realization came to her.

I put my arm around Olivia and swiftly steered her back to the house with the RABBOT under my arm. Once we crossed through the threshold, Olivia immediately started to collapse. I dropped the RABBOT and swept her off her feet to lie her down on the couch. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay," I said, trying to calm her. I took her hand, and she squeezed my hand really hard as she sat up.

"I'm gonna-" Olivia let go and ran over to the kitchen to vomit into the trash can. When finished, she collapsed on the floor, trembling.

I knelt down beside her and rubbed her back.

"So stupid," she muttered covering her face. "How could I forget?"

"It happens," I said, gently. "You probably ran out the door all the time when you were a kid. Like an innate response."

"Machines have it so easy," Olivia moaned. "They can be updated, reprogrammed, have parts replaced… To them it's like shedding skin when you get sunburned. It's nothing. Humans have to make a big deal out of everything. I can't even handle stepping out onto my lawn."

"You did for a few seconds. That's something," I said.

"Don't try to make me feel better. You have a flight to catch."

I touched her hand. "All geniuses have quirks, but not all of them have someone who loves them and sees them as are. I think you are absolutely brilliant, independent, sweet, sarcastic, blunt, funny, beautiful, and you work with my depression all the time. You understand. I will never ever think any less of you for being agoraphobic because I know you're more than that." I curled my fingers between hers.

Olivia squeezed my fingers and sniffed.

"Let's get you off the floor," I said, slipping my hand under her back. I picked Olivia up again and carried her to bed. Then, I gave her a strong and warm hug, hoping she would feel a little better.

She hugged me back. For a while, I thought neither of us were going to let go. When her grip loosened, I kissed her cheek tenderly. I wrapped her coverlet around her and took off her glasses. Chekhov hopped on the bed and curled up by Olivia.

"Talk to you soon," I said, smiling softly. "I'll lock the doors."

Olivia nodded.

I closed the sliding doors and headed back out the front door to take the RABBOT. Holding the RABBOT close to me, I locked up the door and closed it behind me. Quickly, I headed over to the cab and he drove me to the airport.

"Your friend okay?" The cabbie asked after a while.

"Yeah," I said quietly. _I wish I knew how to best help her. Should I have canceled my flight? That would make her feel guilty… but maybe it feels better to have me there? I just-I don't know._

I flew off to France in the cargo plane, switching to a train for the rest of the way into Germany.

Mark and Tim were scheduled to pick me up at the depot when I arrived, but my train arrived a little early. I waited on a bench with my luggage. The RABBOT sat next to me. I hadn't heard from Olivia for several hours. Suddenly, the RABBOT leaned against me and laid it's head in my lap, looking up at me.

It was cute and creepy at the same time. I smiled softly at it's eyes. "Hope you're feeling better," I said.

The RABBOT nodded its head.

"Willkommen!" said Tim. I looked over to him and Mark who smiled and waved.

"Danka," I said with a smile.

The guys helped me with my luggage and while I carried the RABBOT. We had a lot of fun times in Munich, and they had a nice two-story house. Mark was reluctant to wear his new eye, but promised to use it when he went hunting. Tim was talking about selling his coffee to local shops. The neighbors seemed to like them okay, too.

After a week, I felt pretty done and was itching to get to work. I got some good ideas for the park. Olivia had a list of jobs lined up. My navy blue armor was delivered and fit great. I played around in it during some nights. I also found out I could drop fifty feet and the suit would absorb the impact so it didn't hurt my joints. It came with a head mask that was pretty light and allowed me to turn my head.

After Mark and Tim embraced me goodbye, I headed on a tour of stealing various items for several months. Overtime, I began to leave calling cards of twigs that weren't native to the area. I enjoyed the tourism of places in between times and kept in close contact with Olivia. The Authorities and Press started calling me the Kindling Thief. At least, they didn't call me Twiggy.

While spending a night in Florence, I received a call from Olivia. "I need you to head to hit the airport at Hangar sessantasette. You're going to Argentina now!"

"Right now?" I asked, mildly annoyed.

"Yes. 500 million dollars is on the line. Move it."

"Okay." I quickly grabbed my stuff and rode off to the airport. "What's the job Olivia?" I asked.

"There's been a recent excavation that revealed an old book in a case, but unlike anything that has been uncovered in that area. Rumor mill is saying that it's a piece from the Nazi occult collection. Wait, did World War II happen for you guys?"

"Yes, your world is based off our world history. It's the modern events that get a little iffy. Like 9/11 didn't happen in your world."

"9/11?"

I sighed. "Just write that number down and ask me later. Tell me more about this book. I know the Nazis were into collecting occult stuff in the hopes of it helping them win. So many stories have been created about the subject that it honestly could be its own genre."

"Okay, so the book has an old, scorched look to it, but it looks solid. Nothing is curled or fallen off. Words are written on top of it in a language that no one has ever seen before. Most importantly, no one can open or remove the case from the site it was found in."

"And you're thinking we can?" I asked.

"We have more than enough resources," said Olivia dismissively. "Archeologists got nothing but chump change unless they have a patron dedicated to the artifact. If no one even knows what it is, they're less likely to be funded. Our buyer clearly thinks it might be worth something, but probably doesn't want to go through all the paperwork. I mean after seeing the offer the only thing you want to ask is 'Would you like your book gift-wrapped, Madam?'"

I laughed as I pulled up to the hangar and hopped into the plane.

"I'm going to keep looking for more records and see if I can pick up any photos," said Olivia. "Just know that you need to get on a different plane once you stop in Brazil. Some smugglers are gonna drop you in and park nearby. Be prepared to improvise because I'm gonna bet that we aren't the only ones the buyer contacted."

"Okay, well, I might be too excited to go to sleep."

Olivia chuckled. "I got a knockout gas in my RABBOT I've been wanting to try."

"I'll pass on that headache, Olivia."

"Also, what's 9/11? I need to scratch that itch."

I sighed. "I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep at all if I start thinking about that… especially when I'm on a plane of all places."

"Okay… something to do with planes… and really bad…"

"One of the worst United States' tragedies ever and it happened on September 11th."

"Oookay, I'll ask later while you're on the ground. Toodles." She hung up.

 _Ask me never maybe… I really don't want to reminisce about the problems of my country… It makes President Lex Luthor sound awesome._

 _... First world problems, Meredith._

 _Think of anything else, please. A catchy song… Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase…_

I hummed Hakuna Matata to myself with a bunch of other random songs until I fell asleep. The pilot nudged me when we were in Rio. He muttered something in Italian when he saw I was awake. Without another word, he walked away.

I gave him my confused face and got off of the plane while they unloaded their cargo. One of the guys was humming Hollaback Girl.

Bemused, I smiled a little. _Have fun with that one, Dude._ Quickly, I rushed to find the next plane and found some Brazilian guys arguing with a dark haired gentlemen who didn't speak as quickly as they did.

"Translate," I said, clearly.

My earpiece started telling me the basic translation in an automated voice.

"Look, I'll pay you $10,000," said dark haired gentleman.

"We have enough cargo as it is," said a Brazilian. "Get out of my face, you stupid American."

"I'll pay more when I get the reward."

"Get out or I'll drag you across the runway with my plane and drop your carcass in the jungle."

I winced.

"That must be her," one of the Brazilians pointed at me.

"I was here first," the man protested, glancing at me.

"She called shotgun as you Americans say," said a Brazilian in English.

"Are you out for the book?" The man asked me in English, pointing at me.

I frowned and tapped on my ear piece. "You think I came all the way out here for some book?"

"It's worth millions, and I'll give you a cut if you let me on this plane with you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Get the fuck out of this hangar. I don't have the time or patience to chase you if you cheat me out of my cut or worse."

"Do I look like I would cheat you?" He asked, offended.

"I know literally nothing about you and you're making us late."

"You have a stupid rabbit," he said, pointing at the RABBOT under my arm.

"Aw, he didn't mean that," I said, patting the RABBOT on the head. "That's such a childish thing to say."

"I mean it. Stupid rabbit."

I held the RABBOT upright. The Brazilians got back.

"I guess you do." The RABBOT shot him with a powerful blast of pink dust. It knocked him on his back and left him unconscious on the ground.

"Gee, Brain, what do you wanna do tonight?" Olivia asked, jokingly in my ear

"The same thing we do every night, Pinkie," I said, imitating Brain's voice. "Try to take over the world." We laughed. _Thank you, Warner Brothers._

The Brazilian guys stared at me with brows.

"Vamos," I said, getting onto the plane.

They shrugged and we took off on the plane, heading to Argentina. After suiting up and picking up tools from the plane, I dropped down by the site in the middle of an open plain in the cover of darkness. The RABBOT rode on my back. Stealthily. I kept low and made my way to the fence. I cut through it subtly and entered the camp. There were various tents and armed men guarding the place with dogs. They were doing moving patrols. Before I could move forward. someone sniped few guys in the head somewhere to the left. Their dogs ran in the direction of the shots, barking like crazy. I moved forward carefully and set RABBOT on the flagpole to be my eagle eyes. It climbed up with ease and I ducked down behind some barrels.

"Okay," said Olivia. "There's a group of guys guarding the book, and they're facing left. I'm gonna send some ARACHMECHs ahead to see if I can get the case started for you." She fired off a few from the RABBOT in the direction ahead. "Creep closer."

I slipped by some other tents until I saw the area with the book. I could see the case glinting from the floodlights. It was surrounded by guys with rifles.

"There's not a single crack in this fucking case," said Olivia, annoyed.

"Is anyone coming their way?" I asked, getting a sleeping bomb ready.

"Wait a second. I got stupid dogs."

I waited and heard some dogs yelping in the distance… probably from sleeping darts.

A few guys left to check the noise.

I tossed a sleep bomb to the remaining guys and crept over to look at the case myself. The book was as Olivia described… burnt but very much intact. The language on it looked like nothing I had seen of human linguistics. _Perhaps it was from another planet… or magic?_

 _I'm gonna have to take my gloves off to even get close to working this thing open._

I bit my gauntlet finger and pulled my arm out to touch the glass. The book started to softly glow red in the cracks as I touched the glass. Tilting my head at it, I lifted my hand to get a better look. The book rose through the glass following my hand.

 _What the fuck?_

I took the book, frowning. It's rough cover was warm in my hands and weighed a couple pounds.

"We got movement from the left! Get the fuck out!" Olivia exclaimed, awaking me from a puzzled trance.

I left twigs, picked up the spiders, and ran for it. The glove was still in my mouth.

"Oh my God," Olivia hissed. "It's Deathstroke! I'm gonna alert people to his presence."

Suddenly there was a loud alarm, making people get out from their tents as I slipped through the fence. I ducked down in a dark area as people ran around shouting in Spanish, English, and Portuguese.

"Fuck, I forgot the RABBOT," I said.

"It lived a good life," said Olivia. "Here comes Pinkie!" I saw the RABBOT jump and cause an explosion. Carefully, I packed away the book and put my glove back on before running off into the distance.

Ahead, I saw that guy from the airport who was still covered in pink. He had a bazooka pointed at me. "Give me the book, you bitch!"

I threw a smoke bomb at him and the bazooka fired, barely missing me. Quickly, I got around him and kept running, hearing dogs barking and howling in the distance. I cut through a field, heading towards the cargo plane's location.

"What the fuck happened with the book, I keep replaying the footage," said Olivia. "For some reason, it reacted to you touching the glass."

"I-don't-know," I said, breathlessly and very confused myself. "Maybe-it's-magic? Like-only- specific-people-can-pick-it-up. I-don't-know."

Suddenly, I heard a motorcycle speeding up to me behind me and saw its lights on me. It had to be Deathstroke.

"Fuck," I said, tossing mines and anything thing I had. I cut through some trees, doing anything to slow him off my trail.

"Goddammit, why can't this son of a bitch stick to assassinating people?" Olivia groaned.

As I came to a clearing, Deathstroke did a U-turn in my path, sending dust into the air. He turned the engine off. "You're good, Kid," Deathstroke said with a grizzly voice as he got off. "But you have nothing on me. Now, give me that book and you'll live to see the sun again."

I stood silently and picked up smoke bombs. _I have some edge to me yet, you ass._

"They never listen," he muttered to himself. Deathstroke came at me with a long metal bar.

I threw down my smoke bombs and hid my bag in a hollow log before shooting up a tree. Then, I leapt down with to attack from the air with my feet. Deathstroke blocked with ease and did his best to try and hit me. I was rusty, but slick enough to dodge and kick him in the mask. While he backed off, I shot at him with my sidearm and he dodged behind a tree.

 _I need a strategy. Some way to trap him or we'll be at this until dawn. He's got a ton more energy and strength than me. His remaining eye is his number one weakness, but he'll probably guard it like a devil. I will find a way._

I cautiously approached the tree and realized he was gone. Carefully, I listened around me.

"You should've kept the bag on you," said Deathstroke in the darkness. "Now, I'll be free to hit you with my worst with the book out of danger."

 _Don't engage… keep li-_

I blocked an attack from behind, and Deathstroke aimed a gun at my head. We made eye contact for a second before he fired. The bullet richoceted off my head stinging me a bit. It nailed him in the shooting hand.

"Argh!" Deathstroke grabbed his hand, surprised and pained.

I punched him across the face as hard as I could and laid out two live grenades before shooting myself up to the trees.

Peering down, I saw the blast knock him back, and he shouted in pain again. Deathstroke's mask was cracked on his eye side. I jumped down to kick him in the face as he got up. He ducked just in time and grabbed my arm in midair. Before I could think, Deathstroke yanked me down and attempted to break my arm.

I squeaked a bit and yelped in pain, but the bones didn't break. Quickly, I put my other arm around his neck and struggled to put him in a headlock while I was on his back.

Deathstroke grabbed at my other arm around his neck as I bit my hand to hold it in place. He held my other arm at an odd angle so I couldn't use it. After a brief struggle, he managed to get my arm off his neck. My glove came off my hand and his mask came off his face. Deathstroke got me off his back and pinned me against a tree. One of my fingers got a hold of a pin on his belt. As I struggled against him, I pulled it.

He smacked my head against the tree to make me stop moving. Deathstroke narrowed his dark eye at me coldly and his breath was warm against my mask. His hair was silver and he had a strong chin with a trim goatee. The missing eye was covered by an eye patch.

"Who are you?" He asked, ripping off my mask forcefully.

The grenade on his belt went off, blasting him off me. I leaned against the tree holding my abdomen in pain. Deathstroke lied flat on his back dazed, and I stumbled towards the motorcycle while my body slowly pushed out the shrapnel. My glove fell out of my teeth.

 _Got to get away before he-_

I heard gunshots and bullets went into my back. Weakly, I collapsed to one knee by the hollowed out log. _Ow..._

Deathstroke kicked me in the head and pinned me to the ground, getting a better look at my face. "You're the one Luthor's looking for, aren't you? The one that Parasite couldn't kill."

I chuckled, a little raspy. "A couple of people might be looking for me, but I'm not an easy catch."

"That's because you've never dealt with a professional," he said. "Now, where is the book?"

"Find it, Mr. Professional," I sneered.

Deathstroke narrowed his eye at me and noticed the log. "Fair enough, right under my nose." He pulled it out and I grabbed for it with my free arm. The book went through my bag and flopped onto my chest. It came open and blasted Deathstroke off me.

Snapping out of my astonishment, I put it back in my bag as he lay unconscious. Vehicles were coming. Quickly, I put my bag on and looked to the motorbike… Then, I looked over to a slightly burnt Deathstroke, feeling a bit bad for him.

 _He would have no pity for you… You were just a bonus to him. It was sheer luck the book blasted him like that. Get out of here before he heals up and catches you again._

"Fuck." Shaking my head, I hauled him onto my back and stumbled over to the motorbike. I put him behind me. _Everyone's so pitiful while unconscious. I'm just moving him out of the immediate area and then I'm dumping his ass._

I secured him to me and sped off, getting those Argentinians off my trail. Casually, I dumped him in a field, checked my bag for the book, and sped off.

One of the ARACHMECHs crawled of up to my ear. "Holy fuck, Meredith," said Olivia through the ARACHMECH.

"It was the book," I said flatly over the motor and wind. "I got lucky and you know it."

"Still... damn."

"Uh-huh.

"Some bad news though," Olivia announced. "Professor Strange showed up on my radar. In fact, He's been back for a few months actually. Completely slipped past my radar and I'm pissed."

I groaned. "Then, he's had enough time to start his experiments."

"To be fair, Lucy did say she didn't want to be a part of the team anymore," said Olivia, "so she's not our responsibility."

"We still gotta check on her and the other patients, Olivia... We might just pass a warning onto the Batman, too."

"I'll see what I can find out with the ARACHMECHs. In the meantime, I'm sending you off to Australia to collect the reward. You can find the flight plan on the computer."

"Okay. Bye, Sweet Potato."

"Actually it's pronounced 'Sweeeeet Potatooooo'!" she said, chuckling.

I chuckled and hung up as I reached the cargo plane. Without a word, I pulled over and walked aboard.

"Senhora. Can I have that?" One of the guys asked, nodding to the bike.

 _Knock yourself out._ "Sure," I said with a shrug. "I left the keys in the ignition."

"Cool. Thanks!" He took the bike onboard and chained it up in the practically empty cargo area.

Once we took off, I pulled the scorched book out of my back. It was glowing a little brighter now and was very warm. Gently, I opened it up. Inside was pages of the weird writing that was on the cover. It glowed red on the darkened pages. I flipped through the pages and noticed some illustrations of a smoldering darkness with glowing red eyes. It was being worshipped by creatures covered in flames from head to toe. The creatures had red eyes, extended skulls, and narrow bodies.

 _Aliens worshipping a godlike creature…_

 _The Martians have red eyes, but they're afraid of fire…_

 _The hero Raven of the Teen Titans has red eyes when she's under her demonic father's influence… but Trigon doesn't look like a fire cloud… He looks like a giant, red demon with multiple red eyes, horns, and white hair._

 _It honestly reminds me of that creature from Inkheart that Capricorn could summon, but that's not DC Universe._

 _It's something from an alien planet. It has to be. I probably just don't know about it._

 _Why does it react to me, though? It comes to me and helps me. Does it just help whoever thinks is worthy like Thor's hammer?_

 _It clearly didn't like Deathstroke or the archeologists._

I sighed and closed the book up. "Why?" I asked it.

The book started glowing less.

I sighed. _What's it gonna do, Meredith? Flap it's covers and say 'Here, I'll explain everything.'? Get a clue, Nancy Drew. Probably doesn't even speak English._

I leaned back and tried to get some shuteye.


	7. Chapter 7: Cries of the Lost

**CHAPTER SEVEN: CRIES OF THE LOST**

 _As I slept on the plane with the scorched book in my lap, I felt myself floating up and away. I went higher and higher through Earth's atmosphere. I wasn't too scared because I knew it was a dream. Passing the moon, I floated along with the book in my hand and saw the massive and smoldering, godlike being with red eyes from the book. He seemed to be waiting for me in front of the planet Mars. Despite his intimidating size and burning appearance, the god seemed benevolent and calm._

 _The god turned to the side and gestured towards Mars with a reddish brown arm with long fingers._

 _He wanted me to continue along... Okay..._

 _I floated past the smoldering god and was suddenly on Mars' surface. There were rocky cities with the flame-covered, narrow-bodied aliens that I saw in the book. Their eyes were red and skulls were extended. They were very vicious and passionate people that fought a lot and asexually reproduced. Many worshipped the smoldering god and held similar books to the one I had found, except they were bright white in their hands. I could see maps the generals planned to move onto the other planets with their best warriors._

 _As the armies gathered to leave Mars, several dwarf-sized and elderly, blue men with white hair and robes came floating along from space. I recalled them as the ones that created the Green Lanterns... whatever they were... The blue elders seemed displeased with what they saw on Mars._

 _Spotting the blue men, the Burning Martians screamed their war cries and immediately moved to attack the blue elders with fire and psychic attacks. In response, the blue elders attacked them with powerful magic that could destroy hundreds of Burning Martians in one good shot. There was a vicious battle between the two races. The small group of small blue elders were able to keep up with the Burning Martians, but the Burning Martians kept reproducing their lost numbers. In the end, the blue men overcame the Martians. They gathered in a circle around the planet, doing some sort of magic over the entire world as the cities lay in ruin. Rain came pouring down, and the flames of the Burning Martians were put out. Their skins turned green or white. All the white books turned gray and faded to dust under the rain._

 _My eye was drawn to a young and frightened, Burning Martian. He was carrying a burning, white book similar to mine. Trying to save himself, he flung himself into what I could only describe as a lake of fire. It wasn't a volcano, but it was like a lake had formed in a caldera. It had a waterlike substance with fire on it. Protecting the book from the rain with his body, the last Burning Martian slowly turned into a White Martian. He burned alive in the lake's burning waters. As the body melted, I saw the book sink down to the bottom, safe from the rainstorm in the lake of fire. The book turned black and stayed at the bottom._

 _The blue elders circled around Mars for a good while and then departed, satisfied with their work._

 _What remained of the Martians awoke, confused. Many of them looked around, all questioning what happened, telepathically. Any flames they saw petrified them, and they carefully moved on to rebuild their civilization while reproducing heterosexually. Many years passed and they became more advanced than Earth. The lake of fire was called the Lake of H'ronmeer and was forbidden due to it's burning state. It was also considered a sacred place for the god of fire and death._

 _That must be who the smoldering god is... the last remnant of what the Martians were... H'ronmeer..._

 _Over at civilization, I saw J'onn J'onzz bringing forth his brother Ma'alefa'ak J'onzz for sentencing._

 _"...For violating the mind of a fellow Martian, you are hereby excommunicated from the telepathic link and will have no memory of why, so that you may never repeat this heinous crime."_

 _The judges held up their hands and Ma'alefa'ak was blocked from the telepathic communication. His memory was erased. He looked around, confused, and J'onn took him away._

 _I watched as years passed. Ma'alefa'ak was often disrespected by other Martians for his handicap. He never knew why he deserved this. They felt utter disdain for how he used his telepathy to mind-rape his brother's wife._

 _Unable to take it anymore, Ma'alefa'ak wandered off to the Lake of H'ronmeer and gazed into the fire. He was now unafraid because he had forgotten to be afraid when the elders made him forget. Ma'alefa'ak desired vengeance against his kind for being so cruel to him. He prayed to H'ronmeer for justice._

 _Responding to his passionate anger, the book rose to the top, faintly glowing red like it did for me. Fascinated, Ma'alefa'ak carefully pulled it out and read the title. "The Book of H'ronmeer."_

 _He read it for a long time and started reading the text out of the book. The book turned white in his hands, starting to burn him, and he held onto it with all his might. Ma'alefa'ak could see all the cool-colored connections of telepathy between Martians. Some connections went off to the Martian colonies on Saturn._

 _Ma'alefa'ak started reading aloud further and the connections started turning blood red._

 _I flew up to the sky and could see Martians bursting into flames from using the telepathic connection. All of them were screaming fire in their last thoughts. Some were begging and crying out for help. Vocally, they screamed in terror and agony, curling on the ground. Agonized parents tried to hold and comfort their crying children as they burst into flames. Ma'alefa'ak only smiled and chuckled to himself as his entire race started burning to death. The burning bodies started burning the cities and plant life, too._

 _Horrified, I flew around the city looking for any signs of hope and saw J'onn J'onzz, terrified as his wife and daughter went up in flames. Tears running down his face and not knowing what else to do, he disconnected his telepathy and hid away on Earth._

 _My heart hurt for them all. I felt less and less sorry for Ma'alefa'ak who howled with laughter in the face of this heartless destruction._

 _To be honest, banishment or execution might've been a better punishment than that passive-aggressive stuff... but what do I know about running a planet?_

 _Ma'alefa'ak fell asleep by the Lake of H'ronmeer, at peace with what he did. The smoldering god of death and fire, H'ronmeer, floated over the lake as he guided souls of the dead. All the souls of the dead Martians flowed into the book and I was sucked in with them. The book was full of Burning Martians that narrowed their eyes at the newcomers. The Green and White Martians grew angry as they discovered what Ma'alefa'ak did, taking control of the book. The book floated away from Mars and Ma'alefa'ak. Then, it crashed into a hill in Germany._

 _The Book of H'ronmeer was discovered by German Earthlings who tried to study it and put it on display. The Nazis eventually came and bought it off the original finders. They tried to study it, too, but the book was vaguely reactive and unreadable. It only reacted violently if someone with bad intentions touched it. At one point, the English forces managed to capture the book and one captain with a nice watch was oddly fascinated by it. It blasted Nazis that tried to take the book from him as well as a superior English officer that tried to take the book from the captain. The captain was ordered to lock it up for further inspection. A thief came in the night to take the locked box that held the book and returned it to the Nazis. It was shipped into Argentina and secured in underground. The locked box became glass and the book rooted itself down to the place, waiting for someone who would protect the it from those that would try to use it as a weapon if they knew..._

 _It feels safe with me._

 _I saw the many dead that were lost... Green Martians... White Martians... and Burning Martians. They stared at me as I held the book in my hands._

 _"Give the book to J'onn J'onzz so that he may wreak vengeance upon Ma'alefa'ak and return Mars to its former glory," said a White Martian, telepathically._

 _"The Guardians of the Universe will not stand for it," a Green Martian voice said. "They will crush us again, maybe permanently this time... Let the book be hidden once more."_

Suddenly, I was shaken awake. "Wake up!" The Brazilian pilot said to me.

Dazed and confused, I let go of the book and it dropped on the floor. It was glowing white and slowly turned black again.

The pilot looked at the book and then me uncomfortably. "Time for you to get off."

"Where are we?" I asked, holding my head.

"Egypt. It's almost dark... What was that book doing to you?"

"Nothing," I said rubbing my aching head. With a groan, I picked the book up and put it in my bag. "Thanks for the ride." I headed down the ramp and headed to the next hangar to take a flight to China. It was blazing hot. Some Englishmen were flying this time.

"Good night, Love," said one of them.

"Good night."

"There's gonna be a little hold until we get the last of our cargo. Advocate said it wouldn't be a problem."

"Well, she knows best," I said, rubbing my temples.

"You all right?"

"Jet lag."

"Pity that. I think that one crate is for you. Need help opening it?"

"Sure."

One guy walked over with a crowbar and I followed. He opened a crate and I saw it was a suitcase with a new set of armor. There was also some clothes, painkillers, water, and food. A note said to send out the old armor in the crate for analysis and to ask the guys about the shower hall.

I started pulling off my armor pieces, revealing my bloodied and shredded under clothes. All wounds were healed. It was mostly bruises and dried blood.

"Must've been a hell of a fight," commented the guy.

"Yeah, I'm definitely feeling it." I had the box sent off to another plane and hit the shower hall to get myself cleaned off. As I returned, the men were filling the cargo area with cargo. I took to a corner and camped out, taking my painkillers and rations.

The other guys sat around some boxes playing cards.

"Hey, Love, you want in on this?"

"I got work to do, but thanks," I said as I worked on finalizing different ideas for Olivia's Park.

"Nose to the grindstone." They kept playing their game.

 _A few of these cherry blossom trees… some red maple trees… spots to display urban art… rocky walkways, a playground… shrubs… flowers… I'll just have to check with Poison Ivy._

We eventually reached Sydney, Australia and I got a ride further south. I reached a small town along the coast and found the house. It seemed surprisingly modest for what the buyer could probably afford. It had a white house, picket fence, and dusty lawn. I knocked on the door.

"Who's there?" An older woman answered. She sounded more English than Australian behind the door.

"Kindling," I said.

She opened the door. I saw she was a thin and prim, older woman with her gray hair in a bun. She had a tan dress on and an old watch on her wrist. "You made good time… I am the curator. Please, come in," she said.

I stepped inside. "Thank you."

The curator closed the door and I waited to see where she wanted to sit.

"You're younger than I expected," she commented as she indicated to the dining table.

"I get that a lot," I said, opening up my bag. _There weren't any bags lying around... no computers... how is she going to pay us?_ I set the book on the table. It glowed at my touch briefly and turned black as I stepped back.

"Have a seat," said the curator, not noticing the brief glow.

I sat down.

She approached the book with her glasses on.

"Careful," I warned, before she touched it.

The curator looked over to me, frowning.

"It's sensitive and really old," I said.

"No offense, my dear, but I think I know more about this book's history than you."

I shrugged. _Whatever..._

She reached to touch it, and the book didn't react to her. Carefully, the curator perused the pages and studied it. "Did anything strange happen while you were transporting it?"

"Oh yeah, came out of the case when I touched the glass... blasted Deathstroke in the face when he tried to take it from me... It tends to turn red when I touch it." I reached over to touch the book. The words started glowing red. "For some reason or another, it seems to trust me."

"It _trusts_ you?" The curator asked, with a raised brow.

"It's complicated," I said with a shrug. "But maybe you know more?"

She smirked at me and sat down at the table. "Perhaps I was wrong. Tell me what you know."

I sighed and told her about the dreams of Mars. "...They seem to trust me because I can respect the power of the book and try to keep it safe. None of the dead souls can agree what should be done with the book, so I thought as long as they didn't react violently to you they would be safe."

"That's quite a story," said the old woman, quite fascinated. "How did you end up becoming a thief when you have enough virtue to be trusted by the souls of this lost race?"

"I faced troubling times of my own and saw larceny as my only way out," I said with a shrug.

"This must be your big break, then?"

"Hopefully," I said, rubbing my fatigued eyes. "May I ask what drew _you_ to this book?"

She sighed and took off her glasses. "My father was in the second world war, and he long obsessed about this book until the day he died. He came across it as the war came to an end. It reacted like it did to you, attacking its own owners to reach him. Unfortunately, his bag was taken while he rested at his camp. He raved about the book to us when he returned, but my mother who was very sensible and religious told him to forget about it. The book was probably a cursed occult item and that it only tempted him with these stories to corrupt his mind... Disappointed, he became silent about it, but he never stopped thinking about it. On his deathbed, he implored _me_ to find that scorched book and keep it safe always... because I was the only one that listened to him and believed him." She absent-mindedly touched the watch around her wrist.

 _It does look a little worn… was it her father's? That captain was wearing a watch..._

"Wow," I said softly. "Bet your mother loved that."

" _I_ knew better than to talk to her of things that borderline fantasy, but I kept my eyes open and waited for it resurface.

I nodded. "Well... I guess I'll leave you to it as soon as I'm paid."

"Of course." The curator nodded and picked up her phone to make a call. "Make the transfer to the Advocate. Transaction is complete." She hung up. "Thank you, Miss Storm."

 _Probably did her research… Then again, I don't exactly make my identity a huge secret._ "Thank you," I said, giving the book a final pat.

As my hand touched the book, it glowed white and I felt myself in that dream world again. The smoking face of H'ronmeer gazed upon me and blinked his red eyes. Through his eyes, I suddenly sensed Hikaru. Her thoughts were purely in Japanese. I couldn't understand her, but she sounded terribly frightened. I could hear her crying softly and sniffing a bit.

 _Why is she upset?_

 _ **彼は彼女を取りました。**_ _ **...**_ _**どこにいますか？**_ _ **...**_ _ **私たちを助けてください。**_ _ **Onee-sama...**_

I sighed to myself, concerned for her and a little annoyed at myself. _I really ought to learn Japanese. Hikaru's upgraded me to "sama" and I still don't know much beyond basic greetings and random words._

My mind started disconnecting from Hikaru.

I suddenly heard inner screams of anger and bloodlust. They had no words in their mind to express themselves. There were only pure screams and growling, desires to inflict pain. Twisted minds of rage and pain. Most sounded male… some were female…

Then, I heard other thoughts.

 _ **NOOOO! NOOO, YOU BASTARD!**_

 _Is that... Is that Chantal?_

 _ **The sooner you stop resisting… the sooner you can forget.**_

 _ **Down, down the rabbit hole you go…**_

 _ **THE GODDESS OF VENGEANCE WILL DESTROY YOU BOTH!**_

Tears ran down my face. _No… Chantal..._

I fell to my knees, overwhelmed by the terror and pain. My hand slipped off the book and my mind disconnected from Arkham.

 _Nonononononono._

"Miss Storm? What did you see?" The curator asked.

"My sisters are in trouble," I murmured with a strained voice. "… I must go." I stood up. "Take good care of it."

The curator nodded to me. "I will."

I rushed out the door, immediately calling up Olivia in a panic. Quickly, I found transportation back to Sydney.

"Well, I'm certainly feeling richer," said a delighted Olivia. "I think we will be able to kick back for a good-"

"-Olivia, we have a situation," I declared.

Olivia focused. "What? Deathstroke?"

"No, the professor _has_ been doing experiments for months. He's been mostly using patients from the male ward, but he's been hitting the female ward, too."

"Okay..." started Olivia. "Where the hell did you get this information? Because _I_ haven't been able to pick up on anything like that. My ARACHMECHs haven't captured a single shot of him with their cameras. Plenty from Professor Young's project, but nothing of Strange. It's fucking bizarre."

"I'll explain as soon as I get on a plane off this continent. What you need to do is send a scout in manually to figure out what's going on with those damn spiders and check on Chantal and Hikaru."

"Are you in a cab right now?"

"Yes, heading to the airport. Long story short, that book was worth every penny we sold it for."

"Shit," said Olivia, stunned.

"Now put your ass in gear."

"Of course…. Look for Hangar... 11."

"Thanks." I hung up.

As soon I was up in the air over the Pacific, I called her up and explained the entirety of the Book of H'ronmeer.

"This is crazy," said Olivia. "Fascinating, but crazy."

"What's your progress on the asylum?"

"I've flown in HAWK1 carrying ARACHMECH-Zero. It's dark, but we're getting close to dawn. I'm currently avoiding any attempts to communicate with the ARACHMECHs because I suspect that they have some sort of virus that spread through their communications with each other. Ironically, it would be like that H'ronmeer's curse for robots. I'll have to neutralize the infected ARACHMECHs since their automatic tendency will be to attack pests that don't act within their hive mind… Yep... they're coming after my manual because it isn't responding to them. I'll just lead 'em outside so the HAWK1 will catch them… After that, I'll be free to get some real reconnaissance-SHIT! Damn, maybe these things are scary? One just jumped out of nowhere at my camera… aaaaand…. boom! Nanner nanner nanner."

I waited, listening.

"Okay. HAWK1 is currently running a virus scan. I'm heading Zero to the female ward so we can get a visual on your lady friends. Side question, do you trust the Curator with the book?"

"I think so… It didn't really react to her," I said. "But she was pretty adamant about finding it and keeping it safe. She said she swore to her father on his deathbed."

"Man... what if _we_ kept it?"

I shook my head. "She would've hired someone else."

"It clearly trusts you though… and it wanted to help you by warning you about Strange."

"Its intentions are somewhat divided by the many dead Martians that control it. I feel better leaving it in someone else's hands. That one bout of telepathy was horrifying enough."

"You reckon that Ma'alefa'ak is still looking for that book to this day?" Olivia asked.

I grimaced. "He already destroyed his entire race except for his brother. What more could he fucking want?"

"Well… do you know if the blue men spell could be reversed to bring back the Burning Martians? I mean there's always ways to reverse things with magic, right?"

"Most of the time," I replied, concerned.

"Well, maybe he's interested in regaining the Burning Martian heritage and asexually rebuild what was lost of the culture that facilitated his vengeance in the first place? He's already got the vicious tendencies."

I shook my head at the thought. "The Burning Martians and the White Martians in the book _hate_ him for trying to destroy his entire race. If anything, they wanted J'onn J'onzz to find the book and bring a vicious justice upon Ma'alefa'ak. The Green Martians wished to remain in secret where Ma'alefa'ak could never find the book. They also worried about the Guardians of the Universe returning to Mars to crush what remained of the race if the Burning Martians resurfaced."

"Well, he can still _read_ the book, can't he?" Olivia reminded me.

"I suppose."

" _Should_ we tell J'onn J'onzz about the book?"

I frowned. "I don't know. I'm currently more concerned about Arkham right now."

"Open up your laptop and I can give you a visual."

I opened up my laptop and Olivia controlled it remotely to give me a video feed of her ARACHMECH-Zero's view, labeled as AM-Zero It was in the vents at a pause for a moment. Then, it moved onward and looked down through a vent cover.

"Okay, this is Hikaru's cell," Olivia announced. "The camera panned around and we saw Hikaru was fast asleep. Tears were stained on her face while she was curled up in a ball.

Her roommate on the other hand was wide awake and staring at a wall.

"Yeesh," commented Olivia. "I wouldn't wish insomnia on anybody."

Zero moved along toward Chantal's cell. The camera panned down and I saw Fairy was sleeping in one bed. The other bed was folded up neatly. Chantal's things were gone.

"Well, shit," muttered Olivia.

"She's probably transferred to higher security," I said with a sigh. "We're too late."

"What do you mean?"

I ran my hands down my face. "She's probably been lobotomized or whatever he does to them when he's finished."

"We don't know that yet," Olivia insisted. "Let me hack into a computer and check the records." She moved Zero along to where a sleepy guard was stationed, and connected into the computer drive. Olivia hummed to herself a bit while working her magic.

"She's been moved to the Green Mile section," said Olivia. "'Extremely aggressive behavior'… 'possible dementia'?-what the fuck?"

"Told ya' so," I said bitterly as I quietly hit the back of my head into the metal wall behind me.

"It's not your fault, Meredith. Mechanical failure and fucking psychopath."

"Something-always-goes-wrong," I said, continuing to hit my head.

"Please stop hitting your head into the wall," said Olivia. "We can still get the rest of our girls transferred, including Lucy. In fact, I'm forging some papers right now. I know this real nice place in the countryside where paperwork gets lost all the time."

I stopped hitting my head and sighed.

"Just got a report from HAWK1. I was right. There was a virus and it spread through communications. It was specifically set to avoid recording Professor Strange in any form… I don't remember you saying that he was a hacker, Meredith."

"I've only known him as a brain-hacker," I groaned. "I mean there were some stories were he used machines to read minds or other things, but in this world, he's always used drugs and hypnosis. At best, he might know enough to get by, but it's not his forte. He must've had help."

"Let me take a look at this virus. Any decent hacker will always leave some sort of signature as a casual middle finger… like how Riddler would've left question marks…"

Olivia was quiet for a good while. "Hmm… aha! Mark Hamilton! Can't believe that twitchy son of a bitch would dare to mess with my shit, let alone do work for Strange."

"Is he in Arkham currently?" I asked.

"Checking… Yes… he was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic, but now he's... catatonic… Holy fuck…"

"Strange must've gotten to him and used Hamilton's skills on the ARACHMECHs."

"But _how_ did he _know_ about my ARACHMECHs?! How did he know I was watching for him?"

I was puzzled, too. "I don't know. How did the ARACHMECHs get the virus?"

Olivia snapped her fingers. "One of the ARACHMECHs stationed at the mansion was damaged and must've got it. Another went in to repair that problem and got infected… so on and so forth. I kinda shrugged and made a joke about the ghosts because they seemed to be fine, but I had no idea."

"Strange's office is in the mansion," I recalled.

"You remember that? Even though he wasn't in that game Arkham Asylum?"

"Part of that game was finding all the Easter Eggs that were essentially Riddler trophies about other inmates and criminals," I explained. "Professor Strange was one of the Easter Eggs. Once you found all the Riddler trophies, you could narrow down Riddler's location and call the police on him."

"Pfft, I could've done it in seconds with my laptop. Once I punch in these transfers, I'm off to Strange's office to rifle through all his shit and self-destruct the rest of the infected ARACHMECHs. Poor babies…"

"You can't fix the virus?"

"No, it's corrupted all the fucking data," she pouted, "and I'm not risking my server. If Strange's managed to block himself out of my intelligence, who knows what information he already might've gathered from the ARACHMECHs?"

"Well, the wireless signal can't be traced back to you, right?" I reasoned.

"No. I have a process that sends them chasing their tail for days, but there is a sort of small loophole I keep in case someone else takes over a robot. It allows me to bypass my programming and trace the user. It's meant for the more advanced robots that I really don't want to blow up, but you gotta test it somewhere. If you're as smart as me or extremely lucky, you can find the loophole and guess the password-"

"AAARRHGHGH SPIDER!" A man screamed.

The ARACHMECH took a hit and started crawling away quickly.

"Daaamn," said Olivia, bemused. "It ain't easy having eight legs!"

The sleepy guard was throwing stuff at the ARACHMECH. The robot quickly scurried up the wall into the vents.

"Goddammit I hate spiders!" The guard groaned. "It's probably going to lay eggs somewhere now!"

" _Rude_." Olivia moved the ARACHMECH back to the roof where the HAWK1 was. There were also several blown up ARACHMECHs being dissolved by acid or something.

We were suddenly in HAWK1's viewpoint. It carried the ARACHMECH off to Arkham Mansion on the other side of the island.

"Any other important insights, Meredith?" Olivia asked.

"No, I'm just as surprised as you," I said. "Did you see if Lucy was okay in the records?"

"No, I keep tabs on Dr. Whistler's records. Lucy is recovering nicely."

"Good," I said, relieved. "Call me if you find anything."

"Absolutely."

I hung up the phone and leaned back, distressed. _I'm so sorry, Chantal..._ Holding my sides, I closed my eyes tightly and remembered her terrified thoughts… _The screams of the others…_ My heart tightened and I wanted to cry but couldn't.

 _They will pay for this… They will scream and beg for mercy… I will draw out their souls through the cascades and spatters of blood…_

 _But Mad Hatter and Professor Strange are definitely canon… I have no right-_

 _-I HAVE ALL THE RIGHT. I have the right to stop Arkham City before it begins! I have the right to send Wonderland into eternal darkness! Or else who am I to be called a goddess of vengeance? To be respected and trusted by these women… they believed I would look after them… that I would avenge them… I will not fail them!_

 _I will never be a failure again._

I got down on the ground and started doing push ups, pull ups, and other exercises in preparation for my arrival in Gotham. _Can't have all this unraveled energy. I gotta get focused to do them justice. Reserve my bloodlust for the moments. No words, only brutal execution. Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy-_

 _-Goddammit, this is not Cobra Kai… this is serious, stupid memory._

 _No, Meredith. You're a fucking joke… just like that dojo from Karate Kid. The major DC characters always have a way of outmaneuvering death. Falling, explosions, collapses… you've seen them survive it all… and if they can't save themselves some hero always comes along and saves them… because killing is wrong no matter how justified… When you get too serious, you become a lead-in for a joke. You just don't see the punchline yet. Strange's death is marked. No need to get worked up over minor characters._

 _How can I think that?_

 _Underneath it all, you don't give a fuck about anyone. You hate them for making you care. You wish they would just die because it'll make the guilt easier as you continue to live year after year… At this rate, you'll live for all eternity, past the apocalypse that kills everyone. There will always be nobody but you on this cold earth. You are a vengeful goddess, but your true calling is misery and loneliness… That sickness hidden deep in your core… always there… always waiting to chew at you when you're weak and can't fight back._

…

I focused on my workout.

 _Ignoring yourself? How often does that usually work? Listen to the logic in your head! This is fucking pointless. You'll never be as strong as Batman or Deathstroke… and the luck always runs out eventually. You are fucking garbage, you miserable goddess of weaklings and pain._

Tears started running down my face but I kept going, pushing myself harder.

 _Good. Fucking cry. That's what you're good at. Hurting yourself and bursting into tears. I think you're learning to enjoy it, you pathetic masochist. If only Dr. Giovanni could see you now-_

 _SHUT UP!_

 _He'd-_

 _SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP! I don't want to think about that. Not that! Anything. Strike hard. Strike fast. No mercy._

 _Just like him…_

I stopped, hanging in mid-air on my pullup.

 _Let go._

I let go, feeling defeated.

 _Give up. Crash the plane into the Pacific and see if you can drown properly._

 _I'm not doing that._

 _Well, it would be the same as going to Gotham. Crashing, burning, and drowning in your own misery. You KNOW that there is no hope for people like you. People like you are born broken beyond repair. Created for the sole purpose of making well-built people feel better about themselves because at least they aren't you…_

I bowed my head. My entire body sorely trembled with emotional and physical pain.

 _All Strange would have to do is turn your negativity on yourself and you'd turn into putty into his hands. You know all the buttons to press. The buttons scratched into your head by those horrible people from your past. They'd always nail it right and mocked you as you wept in frustration at yourself for being unable to fight back because you weren't supposed to._

 _I can fight now… The scars still hurt, but I know better. I know what I should've done._

 _Beat them like a gorilla..._

 _I'd rather be a gorilla than a chittering squirrel. If you have no bite to back up your bark, you're nothing but a little bitch that's gonna whimper and piss blood._

 _So violence would've solved everything back home?_

 _Maybe one good hit… skip all the passive-aggressive bullshit and straight into aggressive so they know you mean fucking business._

 _Sounds like lawsuits and prison time…_

 _Those threats mean nothing to me anymore. I've walked through hell and doing something is way better than doing nothing at all. Nothing is practically helping them. If I can't make them die, I can still make them suffer and show them that I hold them accountable for their actions though everyone else may turn the other cheek. There are so many things worse than death._

 _They will seek revenge for your retribution._

 _They can get in line…_

I chuckled to myself, imagining them getting in line, literally.

 _They won't be the first or last enemies I make. Perhaps I am turning masochistic, but it's better than rolling over for them… letting my morals and beliefs fade in the wind until I have nothing but my work. I will do what I please and now, I want blood. I will have blood… whether it is a splash or a pool. I don't care who these people think they are. I know what I am. I know their strengths and weaknesses and I come from the world that creates and destroys them. I am kindling, but when you burn me I am the fire... a goddess of vengeance._

 _Okay then. Don't say I didn't warn you... goddess of vengeance…._

Wiping my tears off my face, I sat back down and felt extremely calm… collected even. I considered the ways I could make Professor Strange and Mad Hatter suffer.

As I neared Gotham in the evening, I received a call from Arkham Asylum.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Miss Storm?" Dr. Whistler replied in her aged German accent.

"How'd you get this number?" I asked, suspicious.

"I found it in Lucy's journal. She told me the truth about you-how you saved her life and posed as her cousin to visit her. Since I cannot reach her parents, I decided to contact you for your help. Lucy has had a mental breakdown and disappeared a few hours ago."

I leaned back, rubbing my temple with my free hand. "A mental breakdown? What happened?"

"I thought she was improving," continued Dr. Whistler, "but part of her improvement was her willingness to listen to my suggestions. They helped her, but that was only because what Jervis Tetch did to her was still there in her mind. She has not retaken her free will, and only made me as a new master. When I asked her about it, she became very upset and had to be sedated. Now she's gone, several guards and orderlies were maimed or murdered. Warden Sharp is holding off on calling the police. He's more concerned about securing the escaped Joker later on this evening, but Lucy is a danger to herself and others. I know you still care for her even though she left the Drifters. You are one of her true friends that can reach her while I no longer can. Was it not you who tried to transfer her?"

"Bad things are going down at Arkham, Dr. Whistler," I said, simply. "Was there a fire at Blackgate, transferring Joker's thugs to Arkham?"

"Yes?" Dr. Whistler pressed.

"And he's returning tonight?… The Joker."

"You… suspect something's afoot."

"I'm afraid so." I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "Joker's probably planning a party… It's gonna be a loooong night. Did Lucy have a tracking bracelet?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid she got it off," said Dr. Whistler dismally.

"Great. Anything you can think of that might be important? Has anyone been giving her special attention? I really need to know."

"She drew many pictures of the Mad Hatter, viciously murdered as her memory returned. I suppose... Professor Strange was interested in her condition. He actually suggested her progress was suspicious considering her original headstrong nature had not quite returned. I believed it was mostly due to amnesia and that sometimes the old persona doesn't come back. Strange recommended I try suggesting something different and see how she reacts and he was right…"

I frowned deeply. "Perhaps… were you considering handing her over to him because of his insight and her relapse?"

"I was," Dr. Whistler admitted. "I had such high hopes for her and I failed."

"You've been played, Doctor," I said, flat-out. "Professor Strange is a manipulative monster… His only interest is in the Jervis Tetch's handiwork."

"How do you know this? What is he up to?"

"Change is coming, Dr. Whistler," I warned, "and the Justice System will not be able stop him because of his friends... The less you know the better."

"Will _you_ stop him?"

"I will do the best I can for my sisters' sake, but be careful, Doctor. Do not confront him. You're one of the good ones and I don't want anything to happen to you. Understand?"

"Yes," Dr. Whistler confirmed.

"Good… Bye." I hung up and instantly received a call from Olivia.

"Lucy is-

"Missing," I finished. "Dr. Whistler just called me."

"On your business phone?" Olivia asked, confused.

"Lucy had it written down in her journal. Whistler asked me to find her. She also told me that Strange was interested in Lucy's condition."

"Okay. We're on the same page because Whistler just updated Lucy's file."

"Olivia? Did you miss the Blackgate fire, too?" I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"Maybe," admitted Olivia. "Look, I've been busy. My primary interest was Professor Strange's return and fires happen at Blackgate more often than you think."

"Joker's takeover is happening tonight."

Olivia sighed. "Perfect. All the planets aligned to give us all another shitty night."

"At least I only have to worry about Lucy."

"And anyone who gets in your way including authorities," said Olivia. "Swing by for a tall cup of coffee. You're gonna need it."

"A gas mask might be good too," I commented. "There's gonna be a lot of fear gas and laughing gas."

"Yep… could you maybe make a side promise?"

"What?"

"Break Scarecrow's neck if you see him?"

I shrugged. "If I can catch him... Otherwise, he's gonna get mauled by Killer Croc anyway."

"Oh sure, totally… Where would that be happening?"

"In the sewers... where Killer Croc lives…"

"Hmm…" Olivia considered. "I might set up a camera down there for my amusement."

"Sure," I agreed. "It would also be nice if you reset your intelligence on Arkham. So you have a visual over the whole asylum while I'm running around."

She groaned. "What do you think I've been doing all day? Baking pies?"

"Sorry."

Olivia muttered to herself, annoyed. "One sociopath and a fire slips by me, and I'm suddenly completely incompetent? This is utter bullshit."

"Maybe it was too much to ask," I said. "I mean you're working with your projects, communicating with buyers, handling my travel and finances, running Felix, taking care of yourself, and maintaining intelligence over the asylum."

"Multi-tasking, micro-managing, and otherwise using my brain at full capacity is _my_ specialty," Olivia said, proudly. "Machines wish they could work this good, but I'm not perfect. I'm still capable of tripping and there's major flukes going on. Strange didn't go through American customs like I expected. It's like he didn't even leave the country, but he totally did. So I didn't get any flags. No one made noise about his return. Asylum is completely silent about it because of his title and people are like sabbatical whatever. He's psychiatrist level, but he's technically a professor. What the fuck is up with that?"

"Well, it's probably because of Doctor Strange in Marvel universe. Confusion and all that on the fourth wall. Marvel was steamrolling movies while DC was struggling to catch up, but Marvel hasn't made any video games as good as the Arkham games as far as I know."

"What's Marvel Doctor Strange like?" Olivia asked.

"Hero, I think?" I wracked my brain. "Magic… godlike powers? I remember people comparing him to Dr. Manhattan who is also extremely powerful. I forget what universe Manhattan's from."

"Like... Superman powerful?"

"Well, Superman actually has a weakness to magic, so even more powerful."

Olivia whistled. "Jeez… so… something that could compare to the little blue men that attacked Mars thousands of years ago? What did you call them?"

"Guardians of the Universe?... I don't know. I don't know much about the blue men other than the Green Lanterns and what the book showed me. Interesting enough, I think Dr. Manhattan eventually moved to Mars because he had become so disconnected from humanity in his godlike state."

"Okay, I'm gonna add him to the list of things I want you to tell me about. He's after that 9/11 incident and comparing histories."

"That's kind of ironic," I said, shaking my head.

"Don't tickle my curiosity or I won't be able to focus."

"Sorry."

"Are there any other problems with conflicting names?" Olivia asked.

"Marvel has Guardians of the Galaxy, Wade Wilson AKA Deadpool-um… there's probably more but I can't remember off the top of my head. Guardians of the Galaxy is like a little Justice League that wasn't as well known until the movie came out and rocked the box office."

"And Wade Wilson is like _Slade_ Wilson?"

"Except Wade talks _a lot_ more. Merc with a mouth and two eyes. Same abilities roughly, except Wade is very gnarly looking under his suit and he technically has cancer but he can't die. He is also very unpredictable and has fourth-wall awareness."

"Aw... you're like if Slade and Wade had a baby…"

I felt myself turning red in embarrassment, imagining Deadpool being a happy mother holding a baby girl. Deathstroke is confused as fuck.

" _She has both your eyes," said Deadpool. "Stealing things already." He wiped tears from his eyes. "Who's a precious Deadbaby?!"_

" _I don't know how or why that baby came to be," said Deathstroke, "but you are an unfit to raise that child…"_

 _Deadpool narrowed his eyes, offended. "I'm doing the best I can, raising your child! Maybe if you came around more often, things wouldn't be so rough for Deadbaby and me. I'm practically a single mom. Catch the baby!"_

 _Deadpool tossed the baby up in the air and Deathstroke ended up catching the baby._

" _How many times have you dropped her?" Deathstroke asked._

" _Just a couple times today, but she's always bouncing bullets off her head. What's the ground gonna do? She's having a great time! Right, Deadbaby?!" Deadpool made faces at the baby. The baby laughed and cooed._

"You're blushing, aren't you?" Olivia asked.

"Love yourself, Sweet Potato," I retorted.

Olivia chuckled. "Oh, you." She sighed, pleased with herself. "What did you imagine?"

"I'm not telling… because you'll make fun of me."

"Your name is perfect for it, too... Meredith… It's like Merry Death-you already have Death in your name. Maybe you _should_ become an assassin. Ask Deathstroke if he teaches."

"I prefer to kill people on my own terms, and Deathstroke would laugh at me."

"Oh, I don't know-"

"We're now landing in Gotham City," said an Australian guy over the intercom. "Hang onto your knickers because it's gonna be bloody bumpy with all these clouds."

"I'll see you at home, Sweet Potato," I declared.

"You, too, Baby-Death," said Olivia.

"Cute." I hung up and prepped for landing.

We took a bumpy landing, but managed to make it okay. I cut out of there with my luggage, and passed some guy with mutton chops who was coming up to the plane.

"Welcome to hell, Love," he said with an Australian accent. Gave me a wink and I rolled my eyes at him.

"No place like home," I muttered as I found a taxi.

The driver was a blonde woman in her thirties who reeked of tobacco. At least, I thought she was a woman. When she spoke, I realized she was a he because she had a five o'clock shadow. "Where you wanna go?" He asked.

I railed off Olivia's address and he sped off. He was going the wrong way.

"Why are you going in the opposite direction?" I asked, confused.

He pulled over and the door locks were all the way down. Casually, the driver put a gun to my head. "Give me your wallet and jewelry."

I leaned forward, looking him directly in his eyes. "Pull the trigger, and it's all yours," I said. "But if I'm not dead, I will crush your skull and sleep like a baby."

"What do you mean if you're not dead? I got you point-blank."

"It's one thing to point a gun, but not everyone pulls the trigger."

The driver pulled back the hammer on his gun. "Freak." He shot at me and the bullet bounced off my head. His windshield splattered with blood and brains and a little more blood trickled from his forehead.

I glanced around as I got out. Then, I lifted a manhole cover off. The guy had roughly $500 cash and likely a hundred more from the jewelry in the glove box. I put the loot in a bag and then tossed the body into the sewer. Casually, I replaced the manhole cover and wiped off the blood on the windshield with the driver's hoodie. The glass was a little busted and cracked from the bullet, but I would only need the vehicle for a short while.

Humming to myself, I drove off and turned off the cab sign. The Batmobile suddenly sped by me, clearly in a hurry. I got close enough to Olivia's neighborhood at the edge of the city and sent the car rolling off into the river. Olivia called me up as I walked home.

"Where are you?" Olivia asked, concerned.

"Ran into a fake taxi. He tried to rob me, and it didn't end so well for him. Just dropped the car and I'm walking home."

"I'm sending a vehicle to pick you up. Batman is already in the process of returning Joker to Arkham. You need to move _now_."

"I know. I know." I came across a couple of bums in an open field and dropped the loot next to them.

"Hey, Lady," said one of the guys. "You dropped your bag."

"Keep it. I got too much," I said.

"God bless!"

"Praise Jesus," I said, somewhat sarcastic as I put my fist in the air.

"Giving to the homeless again?" Olivia asked.

I chuckled. "After the payload we got? It's just chump change from that lousy driver."

"How much?"

"Like $500 plus stolen jewelry. Nothing fancy… just a waste of my fucking time."

"Oh the woes of Baby-Death."

I rolled my eyes. "It's Merry-Death actually, Sweet Potato."

The truck suddenly rolled up to me, cutting across the field. I got into the passenger side. There was a metallic android driving the vehicle with glowing white lenses for eyes. He had one of those Irish caps on his head.

"You sure this is safe?" I asked, putting on my seatbelt.

"Ah, it's only a few miles and I'm a great driver." Olivia drove us off. "It's one of my newest prototypes. What do you think?"

I glanced the robot over. It was about as big as Olivia and seemed well-built. It wasn't too scary looking with those big eye-like lenses and that hat.

"Okay, I guess… What's its general purpose?" I asked.

"Essentially my assistant or butler of sorts. Still working on the AI as well as a name."

"Will it have an actual personality?"

Olivia sighed, considering. "Maybe an English-butler type… or is that too stereotypical?"

"Maybe," I said, glancing at the robot. "Looks more Irish with that hat."

"Too much?"

"No, it gives character. The eyes aren't too bad either."

"Well, those aren't actual "eyes". They're just lights for people-friendliness, but the camera isn't far off."

I smirked. "I'd hope so. The "eyes" are practically fresnels."

"What?" Olivia asked, confused.

"It's a lens that gives light a soft focus. There's usually a lot of ridges to it."

"Hmph, must be a fourth wall term…"

"Theatrical lighting," I said with a shrug. "Took a class back in college."

"Well, look at you, Miss Educated," teased Olivia. "I don't think we've never talked about college."

"Well, priorities," I said with a shrug.

"What was your major?"

"Technical theatre."

"Ohhh... stage fright?" Olivia asked, teasingly.

"No," I said flatly. "There's just more opportunities and a less grueling hiring process. My casting type is also an older woman. Why hire me when you can hire someone who is already older?"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "It's fine. I prefer to act for fun."

"That's why you do the voices and have no problem pretending to be someone else because you have a background in doing stuff like that."

"Mmm-hmm," I said.

"I never liked theatre people much. They were always so loud and obnoxious."

"Well, I think _I_ have proven otherwise. Theatre people are like… well, people. Some are obnoxious. Some are quiet. I always found them interesting because they're pretty passionate about their art and have a lot of interesting experiences. We tend to be interested in the same things, and it gave me an environment to be more social and show people that I wasn't a complete stiff. With regular people, you never know because not everyone lives and breathes their passion like artisans do."

"Fair enough. Come downstairs." The robot pulled up to Olivia's house and parked. I got out with the robot and the robot held the front door for me as I carried in my luggage. The inside smelled like coffee and the lights were off. We walked downstairs. The robot sat down on the couch before his eyes went dark.

Olivia was sitting at her computer and she took off her helmet with a sigh. She handed me a thermos of coffee. "You look pretty beat," she said.

I drank the coffee. "Flying around the world for several days does that to you, but I got some sleep here and there."

"Well, once we fix this issue up, we're good for a decent break."

"There's still Arkham City," I said wearily. "And if Strange somehow finds you-"

"If _somehow_ he does… I'm gonna fuck up him and his guards, because I've stepped up in my robotics game. I got some contacts working overseas on two bad boys the size of semi-trucks."

My eyes widened. "What are they?"

"They're gonna be metal dragons armed with state-of-the-art weaponry that can take down tanks, armored helicopters, and infantry with ease. The program is called DracoExMachina.

"Wow," I said, smirking. "That sounds really cool… but wouldn't it bring destruction to the neighborhood and any park we wanted to build?"

"Still sounds better than being dragged out of my house. Maybe I will give my neighbors a polite notice beforehand. I mean, we got a lot of money. The Curator gave us 2 billion dollars."

I stared at Olivia, horrified. "S-she _quadrupled_ the payment?"

"Yep. I was gonna tell you but I was distracted by your H'ronmeer visions of Arkham Asylum."

"Jesus Christ," I said, sitting down by the robot.

"Hallelujah," said Olivia, leaning back in her desk chair.

I drank more coffee. "But why?"

"Maybe the book talked to her… 'give her a raaaaaaise'," Olivia did a ghostly voice.

Shaking my head at her, I stared at my thermos with a chuckle. "Well, in any case, better suit up." I put my armor on and Olivia gave me a gas mask that covered my mouth and some new goggles.

"Same capabilities as usual, but you will be able to spot all and any of my robots in the asylum and I can playback videos on the lenses."

"Nice."

"I thought so, too. Good luck in there." Olivia put a few ARACHMECHs on my arms. They were rather small. "These are built to pick locks in case you're missing a physical key. Much faster than picking the lock I hope."

"Thanks." I rolled my shoulders, amping myself a bit. The spiders crawled into my side pouch where I usually kept a grappling gun.

Olivia suddenly put a belt around my waist. There was a grappling gun hooked to it. It was also secured via safety cable.

"I know you always have a little issue of hanging on to the gun," said Olivia. "So I built this so you're more free to use your hands while flying through the air and it can double as a winch."

"Thanks again." I headed back out the door to take the jeep out in the field. Quickly I drove it out to the woods by Arkham and grappled over the wall. The guards were busy worrying about the escaped prisoners running around. My first intention was to search the Penitentiary for a trail or some sort of clue on where Lucy went.

Olivia hacked into the security using her ARACHMECHs, allowing me to walk through the security doors no problem. It was rather deserted much to my surprise. None of the aggressive lunatics had been released so Batman hadn't followed Harley Quinn here yet.

I found Lucy's empty cell and analyzed the evidence using my new goggles. Lucy had picked the lock to the door. Olivia and I looked at the security camera feed, and it only showed her opening an office window before the video cut into static.

"This video has been doctored," said Olivia, annoyed. "Check that window."

I walked over to the window Lucy looked at. Her fingerprints were on the ledge, but they were roughly smudged. There was an oily smudge and watery residue on the window's glass. It reminded me of how leaning my forehead into the glass would leave an oily residue. To compare, I put my forehead against the window. It had a similar result, but not as smudged.

I tried to open the window but it only opened six inches. "She couldn't have gotten out this way," I said. "It jams six inches up."

"That's what he said," said Olivia.

I rolled my eyes. "Holy fuck, Olivia. This is not the time."

"Couldn't help it. I'm sure someone grabbed her and took her somewhere. That's why the video cut out. Prime suspects are Professor Strange or Mad Hatter or anyone that works for them. Professor Strange's notes are scant as fucking hell. Either he keeps all his information in his head like a smart guy or he has a super secret office somewhere else."

"Was Strange clocked in the night Lucy escaped?" I asked.

"Hang on…" Olivia was typing in the background. "… Yeah. He was and there's video feed of him conveniently working at his office during the time she escaped. There's records of him being at the Mansion, Botanical Gardens, and Medical in that order after her escape. Ended his night at the mansion and he's off tonight."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course… How convenient… Walk me through his trail and we'll see if we can find any secrets."

"Okay, head to the mansion, first. By the way, ever notice how redundant ' _Botanical Gardens_ ' is?… I mean what other kind of garden is there? Pure rock gardens?"

"That might be a thing actually," I said, not putting much thought into it.

"People are weird."

I stepped out of the Penitentiary and saw Harley Quinn dragging Warden Sharp along with a few thugs towards my direction.

"Who the hell is that?" One of the thugs asked, pulling out a gun.

"Good question," said Harley. "Who the hell are you?"

"Just a thief, making my plundering rounds," I said with a casual shrug. "Is that Warden Idiot?"

"I am Warden Sharp," protested Quincy Sharp, his pride very hurt. "And you will all pay for this-"

Harley hit him over the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey, if you didn't, I would've," I said with a shrug.

"Oh, would you like to?" Harley asked, gesturing to Sharp. "Just don't kill him. Mr. J likes to keep the bait alive and screaming."

"Oh why thank you." I nodded to her and kicked him while he was on his hands and knees.

Sharp screamed in pain and held his abdomen while lying on the ground. "Why?"

"That's for my sisters, you swine. You and Strange will earn all your just desserts one bite at a time." I moved to kick him again but faked him out.

He flinched, quivering in pain and fear.

I took my gas mask off and kneeled down as Sharp gazed up at me. "Savor each and every bite, you old fool," I growled.

"You're the one that butchered that doctor." Sharp said, horrified.

I winked at him and stood back up.

"Oh... Mary Beth Storm," said Harley, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Meredith Storm," I corrected.

"I haven't seen you since before your gang tried to kill my puddin' and the gang," she said, bitterly.

The clown thugs pointed their guns and knives at me, also resentful about that incident.

"To be fair, puddin' and company attacked us first," I said, stepping back. "And on that same night of that attack, I helped you and Ivy across the bay. I didn't define _you_ by the choices of your friends… so how about you extend me the same courtesy?" I put my mask back on. "Call it even between us?"

Harley frowned, genuinely considering my words.

"No fuckin' way," said one of the clown thugs. "All you Drifters are gonna pay for that shit. I'm still half-deaf!"

"All you corrupt fiends are going to pay," Warden Sharp said coldly as he lied on the ground.

"Oh lighten up! Will ya', Sharpie?" Harley exclaimed, kicking Sharp in the back with her boot. "Just this once," she said pointing at me. "The next time we catch you running around, you're swiss cheese, Meredith."

"But Harley-" protested several thugs.

"Hey, a courtesy is a courtesy," said Harley, waving her gun. "Maybe you bozos would know what that meant if you were actual gentlemen." She proudly raised her head high and twisted one of her ponytails. "Now move your asses inside, now!" Harley pointed at the door and the thugs quickly dragged Warden Sharp inside, grudgingly. Then, she looked to me. "Seriously, what are you doing here? Don't know you know Mr. J is having a party?"

"Some of my sisters have gone missing or completely batshit insane because of devious experiments."

"And Strange has something to do with it?" She asked, frowning.

"He's up to something big and terrible… I just know it… There's not a kind bone in that guy's body."

"Well, he's always been a little creepy… good luck with that."

"Same to you… and stay away from that TITAN stuff."

"Hey, how do you know about that?" She asked, quietly.

"I keep tabs on everything here," I said. "Especially doctors and the female ward… but that stuff has nasty, withdrawal effects. I mean have you seen what happens to Bane when he's off his Venom?"

Harley shook her head. "Oh I don't require any enhancements. It's these thugs that are gonna go nuts just for a shot at ripping off Batman's head."

"It's the Bat!" shouted a thug from far away.

"See ya'." Harley scurried inside the Penitentiary.

I headed over to the Mansion to pick up Strange's trail from his office. By climbing up to the upper walkways, I avoided Cash and the other guards that were holed up on the main floor. Using my goggles, I looked for some way to track Strange's movements and noticed there were dirty, shoe prints. He had bigger feet than me.

"Some dirty shoe prints here, Advocate," I commented, touching the dirt. _It seems like mud?_

"Well, it did rain, so he might've gotten his shoes dirty," said Olivia. "Cleaning staff might've missed it because he was working late and cleaning the mansion isn't something the staff sweats over. I mean it's not exactly medical or intensive treatment where you clean at least five times a day. Here it's every few days. Let me drop an ARACHMECH for that trail… oh, and crazy thing, Strange was gathering my data and hid it on a spider solitaire game on his computer. Can you believe this bastard?"

I chuckled. "Didn't know he had a sense of humor."

"Well, _dry_ humor maybe. Nothing like 'jamming at six inches'."

"Olivia," I scolded, shaking my head.

"I am hilarious," Olivia insisted.

An ARACHMECH dropped down from a vent and scurried after the footprints. I followed it quickly, running past the guards I snuck past earlier.

"Hey, stop!" said Cash in protest, waving his hook hand after me. _The one Croc bit off._

I didn't stop and continued after the ARACHMECH that headed to Botanical Gardens. As I entered the doors, I saw Poison Ivy turn to look at me. She had an open and red prison shirt that bounced off her olive green skin. There were only a couple of buttons fastened in the middle of her chest, suggestively covering her breasts.

"Long time no see, Meredith," she said with her smooth voice. Her green eyes were bright as she gazed at me.

"Lots of traveling," I said with a shrug, glancing at the ARACHMECH that stopped before Ivy.

"What are you looking for this time?" Ivy asked, continuing to walk gracefully. The plants angled towards her as she walked by.

"Same as before... Lucy." I walked with her.

Ivy sighed, disappointed. "Didn't she leave your gang months ago?"

"She did," I said. "But I still worry, especially with the Joker taking over the place. She hates clowns. I understand why she wants to make a clean break and I'm making sure she reaches it okay."

"Whatever she did to earn your loyalty must've meant a great deal... Otherwise, I don't understand why you waste your time on such a lunatic."

"Why do you waste your time on Harley?"

"Hmm, touche." She smirked.

"Have you seen Lucy?"

Ivy shook her head. "Must've escaped in all the chaos. I hear many inmates have been released."

"I suspect foul play," I said. "There's sections of security tape missing. Strange has been conducting experiments on inmates from the male ward and recently the female ward. Parted or not, I will not abandon her to him."

Ivy tossed her red hair back. "What sort of experiments?"

"I suspect mind control. When he's through, he surgically dismantles the subject's brain so they cannot communicate what has been done to them. He's up to no good."

"So what are you doing now with this _spider_ thing?"

The ARACHMECH was still tracking Strange's steps ahead of us.

"Tracing his steps on the night Lucy disappeared. Perhaps, it will lead to a secret office…"

"She's lucky to have you," said Ivy. "I might be a little envious."

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Loyalty can be difficult to come by," said Ivy, disappointed.

"Well, I'd be willing to start a working friendship with you," I said. "I mean you're more inclined to plants, but I know you work with Harley and Catwoman on occasion. Girls should stick together and all."

"How sweet… Perhaps you can do a favor for me?"

"Sure, what's the favor?"

"Selina attempted to make peace with me and offered to feed my orchids. I want you to check if she's done as she promised while I protect my babies here."

"Okay. Where are your orchids?" I asked.

Ivy told me where the orchids were.

"I'll just send a HAWK right now," said Olivia. "Ask her about your plans real quick."

"I don't know, you sure it's a good time right now?" I asked.

"Good time as any really," said Olivia.

"Okay, my partner is sending a robot sentry to go look."

"And your partner is?" Ivy asked as we walked down a hall and reached a greenhouse area. The plants swayed and grew a bit, reacting to Ivy's presence. A vine moved towards her. Ivy talked to them, sweetly. "Hello, Darlings."

I glanced at the plants, cautiously. "My partner is hacker called Advocate. She's talented with making robots."

"What's her real name?"

"That's between her and me, technically. Um, could I consult you about plans for a park?" I asked, shyly.

Ivy looked over to me, surprised, as she sat down on a stone ledge. "You wish to ask me about a public park in the making?"

"Technically, it's private, but it would be open to the public. It's nothing but an open field with litter, but we wanted to fix it up. Neither of us are an expert and I know you… We'd take really good care of it."

"Show me…"

I pulled out a tablet for her to look at my plans.

"Cherry blossoms, red maple, azaleas… Interesting color scheme," Ivy commented. "This bridge with rose vines is interesting… I notice most of the roots of these plants don't run too deep… is there anything else you're planning?"

"Nothing harmful to the plants, I assure you, but it is preferable that they don't run too deep."

She smirked. "I see… but would it hurt to have one great tree around the end? Gotham used to have great and beautiful poplar trees that were nearly as tall as the metallic monstrosities they call skyscrapers…

"How wide were these trees?" Olivia asked in my ear.

"Fifty feet at their greatest, but it takes time," said Ivy. "If you need the roots guided in a certain way, you need only ask."

"What kind of tree is it?" I asked.

"A tulip poplar tree… I would also recommend using a hard fescue grass… what was the original use of the land?"

"It used to belong to a farmer," I said. "You know how small farms are being eaten up by large companies?"

"All too well… but yet, this will make a lovely garden…" She made some casual notes in my tablet.

"By the way, arrived at the place," said Olivia. "I'm looking around for the orchids… ohhh… I hope those aren't them…"

Poison Ivy gave me a look.

"Can I see that tablet real quick?" I asked.

She handed it back to me and I peeked at the screen.

"Give me a visual, Advocate," I said.

"Sure thing," said Olivia. "This might be graphic for certain plant lovers."

The screen changed to a visual of the shriveled remains of the orchids. "I am so sorry, Ivy," I said, shaking my head.

Ivy took the tablet back to see for herself, and she dropped the tablet in horror and disgust. "Oh she will pay for this outrage!" Ivy shouted, pacing about.

The plants moved about jerkily, seeming upset as Ivy.

Wincing, I picked up the tablet off the ground.

Green-toned tears were running down Ivy's face. "How could anyone be so cruel? How would she feel if I strung up her cats?!"

"Would you like us to bury them or something?" I asked gently.

"No, no, I'll deal with it myself. Leave us."

I nodded and tucked my tablet away before heading out.

"Meredith?" Ivy called after me.

I turned.

"Thank you… I hope you find what you're looking for."

"You're welcome." I gave her a nod and looked around for the ARACHMECH that was tracking the footsteps. I heard gunshots and saw it come skittering back to me as a thug shot at it.

I shot the thug in the arm. Swiftly, I leapt up and slammed the thug to the ground before he even realized I was here.

"DID YOU GET IT?" A thug shouted in the distance.

"YEAH! I'M GONNA STOMP THE SHIT OUT OF THIS THING!" I shouted back with a deeper voice.

"NICE!"

I rolled my eyes and nodded to the ARACHMECH.

"People are so mean," Olivia commented, having the ARACHMECH continue out of the building. "Nothing here but Joker's secret lab, some thugs, and hostages. From the video feed, I can determine Strange was just doing a constitutional or something. Also a fair warning, Joker let out all the crazies that Strange probably experimented on."

I followed the ARACHMECH out to Medical and noticed some lunatics were running around the asylum grounds. One crazed man ran up to me and tried to choke me out, but I grabbed his arm and slammed him into a tree without hesitation. Several more ran over hearing the commotion.

Uninterested in the oncoming struggle, I grappled myself over to Medical and ran inside, slamming the door shut behind me.

"Jesus fuck," I muttered with a sigh.

"This is where things get a little murky," said Olivia, "but by combining his physical trail and what distorted camera works we have… I should be able to pick up the trail."

I noticed a bit of pale blonde hair on entrance rug. It was blonde to the root. "Can you analyze the DNA on this hair?" I asked.

"It's probably Harley Quinn's," said Olivia dismissively.

"It's not as pale as Lucy's natural hair. Harley is also not a real blonde."

"Oh yeah, I guess she isn't, but that seems like a rather minor detail. How did you remember?"

"'Joke's on you. I'm not even a real blonde'," I said imitating her voice.

"When was this?"

"An episode of BTAS," I said, casually. "That's the series where she was originally thought up actually. From there, she blossomed into one of the most favorite characters."

"But why?" Olivia asked. "She seems so minor and annoying."

"She's got a lot of character to her if you get through that initial layer of annoyance. Despite being driven insane, she still has an incredible amount to humanity to her." I scanned the hair with my goggles and it was 95% match to Lucy's DNA. "It's also incredible how long she's survived alongside the Joker."

"Okay, that's fair," said Olivia. "I'll be adding Lucy DNA to my scans as we go along."

I followed the ARACHMECH around Medical, knowing it was generally secure at this point but keeping my ears open.

We spotted a few more hairs along the way. Some of them were Jervis Tetch's

As I opened a door, I found a barricade of gurneys, chairs, and other junk in our path.

"What the fuck?" Olivia asked.

"It's just doctors and a few guards," I explained, remembering in the game.

"Who goes there?" A guard called on the other side.

I prepped my grappling-gun. "I'm looking for Lucy Smith."

"She hasn't been seen since she escaped," declared one of the male doctors on the other side. "She's long gone."

I zipped over the barricade and landed on the vents that were between them and the ceiling. Then, I hopped down. The guards put their guns up, and I approached the door nearby. "Then, why am I seeing a fresh DNA sample?" I asked, looking with my goggles as I picked up a pale blonde hair.

"What do you want with her?" Dr. Cassiday asked.

"The Mad Hatter's taken Lucy Smith, and I mean to kick his sorry ass. Glad _you're_ okay," I nodded to Dr. Cassiday. "Where's Whistler?"

"She's usually over at Intensive Treatment," said the male doctor.

 _Maybe that one is Dr. Kellerman?_

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Dr. Cassiday asked, studying me.

"I don't talk as much as I used to." I opened the door and continued following the trail into the observation room. It lead me to a wall in one of the rooms.

Dr. Cassiday followed me with Dr. Kellerman protesting.

"We have no idea what she's capable of," he hissed.

"Who are you?" Dr. Cassiday demanded as I knocked around, looking for a secret passage.

I took off my mask and goggles, setting my mask in my side pouch. "I'm Meredith Storm, Doc. Maybe you remember me?"

"You killed Dr. Giovanni!" Dr. Kellerman exclaimed, pointing at me.

I had no more patience tonight. "He had it coming after the things he did to us," I said bitterly. "So get off your high horse and out of my face before I knock you the fuck out."

Dr. Kellerman got back, and I kept feeling around. I put my goggles on and tried to find something with heat vision.

"You think there's some random passage right there?" Dr. Cassiday asked, skeptical.

"Arkham Asylum is old and full of secrets," I said. Then, I noticed that a section of the wall had different tile shapes from the rest. I lifted my goggles and leaned my head against the wall. This section wasn't quite flush with the wall. I pulled at the edge with the tips of my gauntlets but the panel was stuck. "Some sort of switch needs to be released," I muttered to myself. I pulled out a knife and stuck it in the crack, feeling around it. I found the locking mechanism and touched the tile beside it. It was cracked. I looked closely and saw a keyhole. "Son of a bitch." I picked a small ARACHMECH from my pocket and held it up to the hole.

"Is that a spider?" Dr. Cassiday asked, uncomfortable.

"Yeah, it bites," I said, sarcastic. The little robot approached the hole and stuck it's legs inside. I waited until it flashed a green light before turning the body like a key. The panel came free and creaked open. "I suggest you return to the others," I said as I pulled the ARACHMECH out of the lock. I moved to close the panel behind me as I entered the thin, dark passage.

"Meredith," said Dr. Cassiday, stopping the panel. "Please don't kill him."

"I'll think about it," I said coldly before closing the panel.

Putting my goggles and mask on, I continued down the dark passage. There was a small trail of light pouring out around the corner. I peered around and saw an ajar door.

"No need to be so angry, Alice. You'll be yourself again in no time."

"For the last time, I am not Alice, you fuckhat," groaned Lucy in frustration.

"I'm gonna scout ahead. Look at your tablet." said Olivia quietly. The ARACHMECH went ahead, sneaking inside the room. I pulled out my tablet as she gave me a visual.

Lucy was strapped down on a gurney and Hatter was brewing some tea with his hat off. His blonde hair was greasy and flat from being under that hat.

"Such harsh language," Hatter said, tutting with some frustration of his own. "How is it you obey most orders now, but can't stop swearing so foul?"

"Because you can't shut me into this Alice costume forever," said Lucy, angrily, suddenly looking at the ARACHMECH camera. She glanced over to the Mad Hatter and then to the ARACHMECH.

"Shall I startle him?" Olivia asked.

"How about you grapple his hat away from him?"

"Even better."

Taking off my goggles, I tucked the tablet away and crept towards the door cautiously, peering inside.

The hat suddenly started floating up to the ceiling. This didn't go amiss with Jervis. He noticed and looked extremely confused as he leaned back to stare up at it.

I slowly opened the door to terrify the hell out of him for giggles.

The Mad Hatter's eyes widened as he saw me standing there, narrowing my eyes at him. "I know those eyes in their true form, the hollows of a great Storm. Don't come any closer!" He stood in front of Lucy. "Have a cup of tea with her and me!" His hand trembled as he held out a cup of tea.

"Fuck him up," Lucy said coldly as I stepped forward.

"Now, now, now-"

I picked the Mad Hatter up and threw him aside to the wall. He crashed on an old desk and it crumbled under his weight with a groan and clatter.

I reached to touch Lucy's restraints.

"Don't," said Lucy, warning me. "I can't stop obeying orders, Meredith. I'll hurt you again."

Then, I looked over to the Hatter and plucked him off the ground of debris. His cheek was bleeding and he groaned.

"How do I revert her to her normal personality?" I demanded. "Tell me now… or else." I glared into his eyes.

"Please, all you have to do is reset the brain, and let the drugs and tea run out like a spring rain," Hatter said, squeaky with fear. "That's what I used to do with experiments gone wrong. Reset and restart with a clean slate. Ding dong."

"Reset the brain? With what? An ECT?"

"Electric shock," he confirmed with a shaky nod.

"Sounds too simple," I commented, suspicious. "Why hasn't any of the doctors figured this out?"

Mad Hatter shrugged. "They're too set in their days to look things another way."

"And ECTs are usually only used when the patient isn't responding to treatment," said Olivia. "Hatter's victims tend to be civil unless ordered otherwise."

"I can do it for you," said Hatter with a soft smile. "Doctors don't do it the right way."

"Don't trust that little bastard," said Lucy. "My memory will be erased all over again!"

"This might be your only chance, Lucy," I said. "If it fails, I swear to you that I will murder him viciously and drag out the pain as long as I can." I put my fist to my heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye… I, Meredith Storm, the Goddess of Vengeance."

She sighed, reluctant. "If it comes to that, be sure to pull out his entrails and lay them out while he's still alive… while dressed as Alice."

I nodded to her and let go of the Hatter. "Where's the nearest equipment?"

"In the closet," Hatter said, scurrying over. He opened the door and struggled to roll out a generator.

I helped him out and we rolled it over to Lucy. The Mad Hatter hooked her up to it and stuck a bite stick in her mouth. Her dark eyes were on me the whole time as I watched and prayed in my head.

I took her hand and squeezed, attempting to comfort her.

She squeezed back and a tear ran down her cheek.

Hatter powered up the generator and I let go of Lucy's hand. "Side effects include memory loss and sometimes bone fractures." He flipped another switch and applied electricity to her head, carefully avoiding her hair.

Lucy's body shuddered violently as her eyes rolled back. Hatter continued at this for fifteen minutes like it was a relatively menial task. For me, it seemed like forever, but I didn't look away. I just couldn't.

Afterward, Lucy lied there, staring up at the ceiling.

"Perfect," said Hatter as he powered down the generator. "Now she just needs a good rest at home, I am all too glad to atone.

I nodded. "You got lucky today. Walk." I pointed at the door.

He walked ahead of me nervously.

I led him out to the observation area where Dr. Cassiday waited. Then, I knocked Hatter the fuck out with a swift punch.

Dr. Cassiday was startled but seemed relieved at the same time.

Wordlessly, I returned to the hidden room where Lucy was calling out.

"Hello? Can someone please let me out of this?"

I entered the room.

Lucy paled in fear. "Who are you? What's going on?"

"I'm Meredith. I came here to rescue you from this place." I undid her straps. "I'm taking you home to your parents where you can recover in peace."

"Who was that other guy?" She tried to sit up.

"The asshole who messed with your head." I touched my ear piece. "Advocate, drop that hat,"

"Just a second," said Olivia.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm curious, okay? I promise I will blow up the spider when I'm done. Get her out of there."

I groaned. "You might be a little weak right now. I can carry you."

Lucy seemed unsure about that.

I took off my mask and put it in my side pouch again.

"Can't you explain more?"

"I'll explain on the way, I promise… but it's not safe to stick around here. There's a lot of things going on tonight."

She let me carry her out and I headed back over to observation while explaining things to her. The doctors and guards glanced at us while securing the Hatter, but they didn't speak while I spoke to her. I carried her all the way out of Medical and saw that the place was covered in Ivy's large, spore-shooting pods every ten feet or so. I could see large vines poking out of the ground and wrapping around buildings as the ground rumbled.

"What are those?" Lucy asked.

"Plant pods that shoot out spores." I gave Lucy my gas mask as we saw some spores hit a lunatic in the head. "They should ignore us, but just in case."

"You talk like they're consciously aware," said Lucy.

"They kind of are, especially in Ivy's presence, but she's cool with me. Fingers crossed." I walked by the pods and they seemed to react to my movement, but they didn't spit out the spores.

"Don't worry, Meredith. My babies won't hurt you," said Ivy's voice, split into two tones. The sound resonated from the plants. The island shook with her words. "Batman on the other hand…"

"What the fuck?" Lucy asked confused.

"There is a lot of long stories to be told," I said with a sigh as I headed over to the wall, watching for clown snipers. "Time to stay quiet."

"And they say men are sexist, Bats?" Joker commented over the intercom system. "Women, am I right?... Also, who in the hell is Meredith?... Wait, wait, as in Meredith Storm?... What are you doin' here, Kiddo? Hehe. Nothing to steal here except minds and plants. I hope you aren't after my monster formula… or maybe you're here to kill some more doctors?"

Lucy looked at me horrified.

I shook my head. "That guy is lunatic and a major enemy of yours," I said lowly. "We'll be out of here in no time."

"Well, if anyone sees her, make sure to give her a hearty welcome that party-crashers deserve, Boys," said Joker.

I carried Lucy over to the wall and grappled over it.

"I think I can walk now," she said after taking off my gas mask. We headed over to the jeep and I drove Lucy out to where her parents had moved, six hours away. It was dawn by the time we reached the rented cabin, and I was exhausted.

Her mother, Helen, answered the door and embraced Lucy. I quickly explained the situation to her and Roy. "Long story short, you need to head further out. Things are only going to get worse in Gotham and they might come looking for her."

Helen and Roy nodded, not surprised. It almost seemed like a familiar thing to them.

"This all is so crazy," said Lucy, shaking her head. "How can a person live like this?"

"Life isn't easy any way you spin it, Angel Cake," said Roy flatly, leaning on his cane as he sat on the couch. "Might be best if you got some rest or just took some time aside for things to settle in your head."

Lucy nodded. "I'm just gonna sit out on the porch."

"Need company?" Roy asked.

"I won't want to talk."

"I don't need to talk."

"Sure, whatever." She walked out the front door.

Roy looked to me with a nod before following.

"Thank you so much." Helen embraced me and touched my cheek. "Oh Honey, you look absolutely exhausted. Would you like to stay for a while?"

I embraced her back. "I'll take coffee if you have some, but we should both get moving."

Helen poured me a cup and I mixed it the way I enjoyed it. She sat down at the table, wringing her hands a bit.

"This isn't the first time you guys have had to run, is it?" I commented.

Helen gazed at her coffee and sighed, thinking to herself. "No, it is not… Roy and I have our own pasts of getting into trouble. In the end, we ended up snitching and getting relocated by the government… for _her_ sake. We wanted her to have a better future. We had hope when she got into her rock or metal band whatever. She was living a great life and was real happy… but the Joker ruined that… and genes... will out." Her eyes watered a bit. "As soon as she remembers, your Lucy will go out for revenge again. I just know it. It's karma for the things we did."

I gazed down at my coffee and drank it, depressed by this myself.

"I greatly appreciate what you've done to help save my child, but in the end you're fighting an upward battle."

"Maybe it'll help if I leave you a message to give her when she remembers?" I suggested.

"What message?"

"Not a soul beyond you three can know."

Helen nodded. "Absolutely."

I inhaled and exhaled deeply, figuring out how to word this properly. "Tell her to wait after the fallout of Arkham City at least."

She frowned. "What is Arkham City?"

"It's going to be a well-funded, super prison that takes up most of Old Gotham. It's one of the main reasons Olivia and I are asking you all to flee."

"Well, what about Olivia and you?"

"We have our own ways of hiding and taking care of ourselves. I just need to know that Lucy will be safe, and I won't have to watch her back, too."

"And Mark and Tim have retired elsewhere, right?"

I nodded and finished off my coffee.

"You sure you don't want to rest?"

"At best, I think I'll get my armor and leave. Thanks."

"I'll give you a thermos of coffee."

I cleaned up and got my armor off so I was only wearing sweaty underclothes. Helen gave me a thermos, sandwich, and a hug. Roy embraced me, too. Lucy gave me a nod. She still didn't seem to know what to think.

"Take it easy," I said, heading to the jeep.

My eyes drooped and I struggled to stay away as the sun rose higher and higher. I blasted the radio to help me get back to Olivia. When I returned, I found her passed out in bed with no clothes except underwear. The gray cat was sleeping by her head, looking a bit bigger. Tossing off my gross clothing, I passed out beside Olivia, exhausted.

Then, I felt her move and she sprayed me with lavender air freshener.

I was too amused and tired to protest, finding myself falling asleep in spite of the coffee.


	8. Chapter 8: There Is No Escape

CHAPTER EIGHT: THERE IS NO ESCAPE

In the next several months, Olivia and I worked together on preparing for possible events in Arkham City. The remaining girls were transferred out of Arkham. We bought out the Mt. Olympus building in the Amusement Mile, a future safehouse for Arkham City.

Mt. Olympus was allowed to continue its business as usual while we created several secret caches of weapons and supplies in the upper floors of the tall building. Olivia was also working on a drainage system that would free up the floors that would become flooded due to the future partial collapse of the Amusement Mile's foundations via underground earthquake.

Olivia robots also worked on lowering the basement level down into Level -1, so basement would become -1 and Level -1 would become -2.

Felix Inc., owned by us, also hired landscapers to work on building the new park where that open field of nothing was. The rose bridge with a rain canal was built. The rocky sidewalks, children's park on the far side, and art pedestals were laid out here and there. We planted the hard fescue grass, azaleas, roses, red maples, cherry blossoms, and finally two tulip poplars around the far edge of the property. We figured we'd add and change things as time went by.

As the Felix Park project gained more and more attention, Olivia hired an actor to play as a spokesperson on behalf of Felix, Inc.. Mostly saying that an anonymous someone wished to give the community something to treasure and enjoy. The actor never actually said what the company officially did, but sent reporters spinning to bite their tails as per Olivia's modus operandi of avoiding people. It was announced that the park was built in partial memorial to deceased artists of Gotham City. In truth, it was built in memoriam of Felix Webber, Olivia's father, and also in the hopes that Olivia could one day step outside with me. There would be a nice bench for us not far from our backyard near some red maples with a view of the rose vine bridge and well, most of the park since our side was on a hill.

After the construction was done, we did manage to reach that bench during daybreak. Admittedly, she was watching via RABBOT, but progress is always slow when it comes to her agoraphobia. Sometimes, I worried I might never reach this point with her physically. I knew she worried more and more all the time. With all the anxiety, she was less likely to step out of her comfort zone.

As our park grew and settled into its roots, Gotham City was changing, too. Warden Quincy Sharp became mayor in spite of his failures at the asylum. The plans of Arkham City emerged to the public. It became a better sounding idea all the time with the continued violence of Gotham's criminals. A wall grew around old Gotham and the privately-run TYGER guard became more effective than the police. A TYGER base formed on the closed grounds of Arkham Asylum and the city eased into a more militaristic state. Criminals at large and reformed started getting filtered into the new prison. Mt. Olympus slipped out of our legal grip as Arkham City took over the area, but Olivia had me set up sensors in the building to keep track of the comings and goings around it.

Olivia was reluctant to send out ARACHMECHs into Arkham City from Mt. Olympus after the events of Arkham Asylum but attempted anyway. They monitored the movements of criminals and couldn't get close to Wonder Tower with the automatic turrets, signal disruptors, and the sharp eyes of TYGER guards that secured the place. She decided to reserve the seven remaining ARACHMECHs out of twenty for bugging different areas of Arkham City since we already knew Professor Strange's plans anyway. There were two in the Bowery southwest, two in the Industrial District southeast, one in Park Row northwest, and two in the Amusement Mile northeast.

As the days got shorter and colder, Felix Park started turning red, yellow, and brown. The public seemed to like it a lot. There was occasionally litter and some graffiti, but workers were pretty good about cleaning it up. Another one of Olivia's side projects was to program some ARACHMECHs into tending to the needs of the park as well as monitoring any intolerable activities.

One of her more major projects was working on was the android assistant with the big fuzzy lenses and cap. His name was declared to be SONNY. Olivia planned to make his personality positive yet realistic. She would lose so much sleep thinking about developing the A.I.. There wasn't much I could do except occasionally run errands and sort through gathered intelligence. Sometimes, I could pick up a few things, but when it came to Olivia's knowledge I was just skimming at the surface of things she knew.

Chekov started becoming more attached to me because Olivia would need to shove him aside in order to work. I wouldn't mind so much if the big, gray cat didn't have the habit of licking my arms with a sandpaper tongue. Some company is better than none I guess.

By November, most of the projects were complete except SONNY. We successfully lowered all the floors except the main one. We created a new basement that became a bit of an entertaining area (primarily a smoking room) as well as Chekhov's main hangout. We put in some new couches, a big tv, and a climbing setup to amuse Chekov. Sometimes, we would chill out and get high together... give Chekhov some catnip.

We were watching some Gray Ghost when we heard a knock at the door.

"Whaaaat the fuuuuck," Olivia commented, squinting her eyes at the door.

Chekov was doing circles on the floor.

I chuckled at Chekov, ignoring the door.

"Babydeth, go see who it is," said Olivia, nudging me.

"But it might be Satan," I said.

"Hello?" A man called from the door. The voice sounded kinda familiar.

"Satan doesn't sound like that," said Olivia. "Get off your butt."

I grunted and got up. "What does Satan sound like anyway?"

"You'd know when you hear him."

"Uh-huh." I hobbled over to the door and looked at the security cam. It was Tim with a soul patch on his chin, shivering in the cold in some nice clothes. "Holy shit, it's Tiny Tim," I said, throwing the door open. "Timmy! Get your shakin' bacon in here."

Tim got in and embraced me. "Oh you're warm!" He exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, she's toasted," said Olivia, smoking from her pipe.

I giggled and closed the door after Tim let go. "I am toast."

Olivia offered Tim some weed. "What's goin' on, Friend? I thought we cut you out."

Tim sighed and accepted it. "I'm not sure I should talk about it," he said, smoking it. He busted out into coughs and we all chilled on the couch.

"Well, you don't exactly have a lot of people to talk to," I said, taking a puff. "Is Mark okay?"

"He is... and yet he isn't," said Tim lowly. "...He's... alive... but he's not well."

"What do you mean?" I asked, concerned.

Tim sighed. "He has disease... called Fatal Familial Insomnia. Around middle age, the person starts having increasingly bad insomnia. They die within months or a year. It's already been one month and he grew so irritable he demanded that I leave him. He… screamed at me, telling me to go."

"He _screamed_ at you?" I repeated, stunned.

Tim nodded dismally and took another puff. "He didn't mean it."

"Well, that fucking sucks," muttered Olivia.

Tim's eyes were so forlorn. "I did not wish to leave him alone, but the more I protested the more upset he became. Eventually, I just gave in so we both have peace. I love him like brother, but I don't know what else to do or where to go."

"It's incurable?" Olivia asked, surprised.

"According to modern medicine, there's nothing that can ease the insomnia."

"No sleeping pills?"

Tim shook his head. "No... and he... didn't want you to know, but you deserve to know."

We were silent. I gazed at my hands and took a puff from Olivia's pipe, blowing smoke out my nose.

"Eh, what else is new?" said Olivia sarcastically. "Our cells start dying around age 25... unless you're the goddess of vengeance." She nodded to me. "Then you never die."

"So far," I said. "It's only been a few years."

Olivia gave me a look. "How old are you?"

I shrugged. "Twenty-eight?"

"Almost twenty-nine," said Olivia. "Look at that face, Tim. Now back to me. I look ten years older than her, don't I?"

"Sixteen years," corrected Tim, looking at Olivia.

Olivia scoffed. "You get the point. She's not wrinkling or anything. Pure baby face... Babydeth."

I frowned. "Do you really hate how young I look?" I asked, confused.

She blew smoke out her nose. "It aggravates me sometimes. One day, I'm gonna look like your mom... if I live that long."

"Then, you're gonna be the hottest, smoking mama alive," I said, winking at her. "Love youuurrself, Sweeet Potaaatoooo!"

Olivia laughed and put her arm around my shoulders. "Oh Babydeth... what am I gonna do with you?"

"Snuggle me," I said with a smirk. I pulled her on top of me and rested my head on Tim's lap.

"Babydeth, we have company," protested Olivia, bemused.

"It's not like we do anything crazy," I said. "Hell, let's get Tim in here. He's still cold."

"Umm..." Tim said, not sure about this.

We got him sandwiched him between us and cuddled on the couch. I could feel Tim and Olivia breathing individually, occasionally giggling

"I worry about Mark, Meredith," said Tim, still worried.

"Yeah... I do, too," I said, feeling sad. "... but he has my number. He'll call us up if he needs help, right?"

"Yeah, probably justneeds his space," Olivia added. "We've been having our own rat's nest of problems here... Have you noticed what's going on with Gotham City?"

"Yes," Tim said, grimly. "Mark knows as well. Aren't you two worried about being discovered?"

"We're working things out."

"Mmm-hmm," I muttered.

"Let's just chill out and watch some Gray Ghost," suggested Olivia.

We snuggled and watched Gray Ghost together until we passed out.

The next day, Tim and I took a walk around the park together. Olivia asked Tim to take pictures as we walked around, so he was snapping the occasional photo with a digital camera. The red leaves were still falling off the young maple trees. It was cold outside, but there was no snow yet.

"This place is beautiful," Tim commented, gazing about with the camera. He was taking a lot of photographs.

I nodded, hands in my pockets.

"Is this part of Olivia's property?"

"Technically, it's Felix Inc," I said, "but Olivia does own that. We keep it hush-hush so the neighbors don't get curious."

"Of course."

"So you abandoned your coffee business?" I asked, frowning.

Tim shrugged. "It's still going. I hired a few locals to continue in my absence… Might just hand it off to them. They have so many ideas for advertising and advancement… I just want to take my cut and retire. I've already taught the recipe to someone else who seems to understand the feel of the coffee."

"You haven't been cutting into different personalities at all either," I commented.

Tim chuckled wryly. "I still feel them when I'm doing specific jobs such as this… Misha, the Russian photographer." He picked up a Russian accent and took a picture of me.

"Hey," I said, blushing. "I'm not photogenic."

"I beg to differ." He circled around me taking pictures and smirked at me mischievously.

I shook my head at him and saw a big snowflake land on his hand. It melted quickly. We looked up and saw tons of big snowflakes falling from the sky. Tim took more pictures as we continued along. After a while, he stopped taking pictures and bumped into me, playfully.

I bumped back into him, chuckling.

Tim let out a shiver and took my arm. "How can you handle this weather?"

"I'm young and used to it," I said with a smirk. "Doesn't it get cold up in Germany?"

"Yes, but you almost seem like you're enjoying it."

"Winter brings an odd calm," I said. "Slows everything down. There are less things skittering around… I just feel at ease in this kind of weather."

"I feel this way during a summer in the mountains when it's 70 degrees."

I shrugged. "Maybe you should head to the Southern Hemisphere… Argentina is pretty gorgeous right now."

"Alone?" Tim asked, frowning.

"Oh… you're still afraid of being alone?" I asked.

Tim bowed his head. "I don't mean to be a coward, but that's why I came. When alone, you are easier to pick out. I don't have other friends. Unless Mark asks me to come back, I will rejoin the Drifters if you will have me."

"I'll double check with Olivia, but that should be fine."

Tim sighed, relieved.

I gazed off, pitying him. _Always living with the fear of the League…_ "You should know that Wonder City is currently active."

Tim let go of my arm, staring into my eyes with his green ones. "They're here?"

I nodded.

He stood stock still. "They're involved with Arkham City, aren't they?"

"Yep," I commented, standing by him.

Two children ran by us, holding hands. Tim gazed off after them.

I did, too, considering his likely lack of childhood. "If you feel safer somewhere else, I can send you off to an outpost, but I can't leave Olivia."

"No," said Tim firmly, meeting my eyes. "I will not leave you two while you're within the reach of whatever devious plot they have planned."

I sighed. "Olivia and I will be fine."

Tim shook his head. "You have no idea of what _devastation_ they bring."

"I do, actually," I admitted softly.

He stared at me, studying me.

"I know the stories… how they collapse entire cities into ruin… desiring to recreate the world in their perfect image… _he_ searches for a successor to take his place alongside his daughter…"

"How do you know this, Meredith?" Tim asked.

"I learned the stories of this world back home... I was obsessed with anything surrounding Batman, and Batman was one of the few candidates for the Demon's successor who refused and lived."

Tim frowned deeply. "Your world… knows this one?"

I nodded. "My world created this one through stories… and called it DC Universe. Don't know how I got here, but it happened when I attempted suicide-and just because my world created everything doesn't mean it's perfect or worthy of being called God. Honestly, it took its own elements of good and evil, blowing it out of proportion with superpowers and extreme situations to make interesting stories. Hell, maybe we just dream about other universes that actually exist, but we think they're made up because dreams aren't real or are they?"

Tim stood by quietly, thinking to himself. "Do you know what's going to happen to me?"

I shook my head. "Never heard of the Drifters back home, but I hope for the best."

"Do happy endings actually happen?"

"Sometimes," I said with a nod. "They can be bittersweet and difficult to reach, but they're absolutely possible… It's harder to reach in places like Gotham… but I hang on to hope with Olivia at my side."

Tim nodded. "What will happen to _them_?"

"I'm not sure. Arkham City fails and the pit is corrupted by Clayface's composition. The Demon and his daughter supposedly die, but you get the feeling it's not the last of them."

"But, if the pit is corrupted… it will not be the same… It is all they have… Perhaps... there is hope..." He smiled softly and looked to me, touching my shoulders. His eyes watered.

"If anyone deserves it, it's you," I said, starting to tear up as an empathetic reflex. "No one should ever have to suffer as you did."

Tim chuckled, tears running down his face. "I am always impressed by your genuine kindness… like a humble and sweet angel that fell from the heavens."

I chuckled and sniffed. "Pfft. I'm no angel."

"That's not what my heart sees." He embraced me and kissed my forehead.

I hugged him back.

"You defend innocence and stand against evil. You are fallen from grace, but your values have not changed. You are something else, Meredith Storm."

I sighed softly. _I'll agree to the fallen part at best-I'm not gonna argue him about it._

We held onto each other for a while and then continued our leisurely walk, wiping our eyes.

Tim moved out to the old cabin spot where I often visited him. We often sparred, took walks, and sat together enjoying the environment. Sometimes, we didn't speak at all and that was okay.

One day, I brought him over to have dinner with Olivia and me. Olivia had a peeved look in her eyes as we arrived.

"What's wrong?" Tim and I asked simultaneously.

"Mark was arrested for assaulting airline security at Gotham City's airport!" Olivia snapped. "Guess where he's been transported?"

"Arkham City?" Tim guessed softly.

"And _you_ win a new car!" Olivia said, pointing to Tim. "He didn't fucking call or anything… just showed up. Now he's in that deathtrap, probably expecting us to rescue him when the place is inescapable and funded by the League! The fucking nerve!"

"We can't leave him there alone," insisted Tim. "Not in his condition."

"If you want to keep him company, be my guest," said Olivia folding her arms. "But do not drag us down with you. If Strange gets a sniff of my address, it's gonna be real ugly."

"It's not _me_ you have to worry about," said Tim, grimly. "It's Mark's unpredictable moods."

"Apparently," said Olivia, rubbing her face.

"Relax," I said. "If Strange doesn't know about the Drifter connection, then he won't have any interest in interviewing Mark. He doesn't talk with uninteresting small-timers."

"He might find Mark's genetic condition interesting enough," commented Olivia.

"Interesting sure, but not a priority. If Mark doesn't say anything stupid, he'll just fly through processing. It's just surviving Arkham City… and not getting recognized by Penguin or clown thugs."

Olivia sighed. "Well, thankfully he left his eye in luggage, too. I'm currently waiting on him getting out of processing so I can quickly direct him to Mt. Olympus."

"The club?" Tim asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we created a cache there, just in case," I explained.

"Meredith, you may stay," said Tim, "but I must follow him into Arkham City. He _needs_ that robotic eye more than ever. Without sleep, his vision is so bad."

"So you're gonna waltz into Arkham City and give it to him?" Olivia asked with a raised brow.

"Do you have better suggestion, Olivia?"

"Actually, I do." Then, Olivia whistled loudly.

A little ARACHMECH came skittering down the stairs and Chekhov chased after it.

"You gotta do something about your cat chasing my spiders," Olivia commented to me as the ARACHMECH leapt onto a wall. Chekhov bumped into the wall, missing the ARACHMECH.

"You know cats can't be trained," I replied.

"Says you." Olivia laid her hand on the wall and it crawled onto her palm. It was about the size of her thumb. She picked it up by the body and it folded up its legs. "Meredith will steal the eye from customs and this little guy needs to go into your ear canal."

Olivia approached Tim with it and he shrank away, uncomfortable with this idea.

She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Dude. There are worse places I could shove this thing into. As long as you don't have ridiculous wax or stick your finger in your ear you'll be fine. It's non-organic so it can't lay eggs. Plus, it will keep me in contact with you so you can find Mark faster."

Tim sighed and nodded.

Olivia gently edged the device into Tim's ear. "It'll come out on its own once it's safe. Do not fuck with it."

"Yes, Ma'am," said Tim.

"Now go get yourself arrested in your American identity," said Olivia. "Rob a jewelry store or something petty like that… Meredith, you'll drop him off in the city and go to the airport with a couple of ARACHMECHs. It's a good time as any to test out the new AI."

I nodded.

Olivia went downstairs and gave me a headset and a few ARACHMECHs that crawled along my arm and went into my coat pockets.

Tim and I headed out to the city in the truck. I dropped him off in Chinatown at his request.

"Be careful," I said to him.

Tim nodded to me and exited the truck. I headed to the airport.

"Okay, so the way this will work is you head to the spot with the lost luggage," said Olivia. "I'll send the ARACHMECHs after the eye by homing in on the chip inside the eye."

"Got it," I said as I parked in the temporary lot. I entered the place and went over to customs to steal the eye. The ARACHMECHs slid under the door as I waited off to the side. Eventually, they came running out and climbed inside my pocket while I casually looked at my phone.

I returned to Olivia's. She was down in -1 prepping a small HAWK. I handed her the eye and she put the eye in its abdomen cavity.

"Take that upstairs, Hon?" Olivia asked me.

I took the HAWK upstairs while she spoke with Tim very quietly.

After I let the HAWK outside, it flew up to the sky and almost looked like a natural hawk as it soared along. I returned to -1 to find Olivia back at her computer, looking at cameras.

She glanced at me for a moment. "He's almost out," Olivia murmured. "Mark is wandering deeper into Park Row towards Catwoman's place."

"So he just stalled by Two-Face's courthouse?" I asked, confused.

"He got lucky," commented Olivia. "They're leaving him alone for now. Tim is gonna be seeing more resistance while he's walking out, but he can handle it." She sighed. "ACE Chemicals is safe, right?"

"Safe-ish," I said with a shrug.

"Head to the ACE chemicals building when you can handle it, Tim." She sighed and looked to a screen that held the HAWK's perspective as well as the GPS location. "Going dark." The screen was blank before it approached Arkham City.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because if I can see the broadcasting signal, so can they," said Olivia. "It's up to the AI now."

"Then, how do the ARACHMECHs in Arkham City work?" I asked.

"Well, it's different if they're already inside the perimeter and connected to the preset network. The HAWK is in a free-roaming status-you wouldn't understand." She sighed to herself.

"Oookay then," I said with a shrug. "I guess you don't need my help anymore."

"Not really, but you can watch."

 _What does she even need me for?_

I sat on the couch and watched as she lead Tim to the eye and then to Mark. Olivia then conducted them to Mt. Olympus. After that, I just walked up to the basement and stared at the ceiling.

 _This wasn't part of the plan… They were supposed to be safe from all this… just sucked in like a black hole…_

Eventually, Olivia came up to the basement and sat beside me. "They're safe.. for now," she said. "You okay?"

"I was thinking about how you're needing me less and less," I commented. "... and how they got sucked in there like a black hole."

Olivia snorted. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm going to ever trust artificial intelligence as I do you. They're just all about making life easier… and Gotham _is_ a black hole. If the guys play it smart, they won't be in the... 22% casualty?"

"Yeah, I think so. Twenty something…"

"I know exactly how you feel. With them in there, you kinda wonder if we're next… and how long it's gonna take for the professor to figure it out… right?"

"Roughly," I said.

"Want to step up your game, Babydeth?" Olivia asked, smirking as she packed her pipe.

I raised a brow at her.

"Let's assassinate him."

"Pfft," I chuckled to myself.

"Seriously," said Olivia, lighting up her pipe.

"Sweet Potato, he's not meant to die until the end of Arkham City. We already tried to change fate by watching over the female ward and he miraculously slipped by us. We knew nothing until it was too late... Do you really think that's pure coincidence?"

Olivia frowned, puffing out smoke. "So...what? His path is set in stone? We can't change it?"

"That's my prediction," I said.

"Well, technically you're not supposed to be part of the equation… Monitoring Strange involved more indirect work on _my_ part. What's to say that _you_ can't change everything?"

"Me?"

"Well yeah," said Olivia, throwing up her arms. "You come from the world of creators. You can look at the world from a bigger picture and solve the problem."

"By assassinating a major villain before his scheme is unfolded?" I asked.

"Plot-wise, that's kinda shit… but shit happens."

"I feel like I have no right to interfere with what's already written."

"Even if it might save Tim and Mark?"

"What if the plot changes?" I asked with a sigh. "And an uglier head grows from where Strange's head was? Like a hydra?"

"I'll worry about it," Olivia insisted, "but if you break the chain, it can mean something different for the world…"

"It could mean the Joker survives," I warned.

"And make him more disposable," said Olivia. "But this is all speculation. My hypothesis is that you're the one who can kill Strange before his time."

I frowned to myself.

"But you have to _believe_ you can do it before it can actually happen."

"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus," I murmured as I stood up.

"Hmm?"

"Never tickle sleeping dragons," I said folding my arms. "It feels like a really unwise idea… Mark and Tim are fine now, aren't they?"

"For now," said Olivia as Chekhov took my spot and rubbed against her. "But there's more. _He's_ been working on tracking down our old friend Lucy."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, raising a brow.

Olivia shrugged. "I handled it for now, but it's a problem that's not going away. Not while Strange is still alive and has those resources."

I gazed off, bitterly contemplating this. "Why can't he leave her alone? He didn't even need her for his experiments. Why would he pursue?"

"Probably because _we_ pursued in Arkham Asylum," said Olivia, shaking her head. "As far as he probably knows we're some underlying force he needs to resolve in Gotham City to feed his ego."

My arms hugged my sides. "As important as it would be, I don't think I could do it, Olivia. It would be such an uphill battle just to get close. Too much security. Too much weight on his importance."

"Are you afraid of him?" Olivia asked.

"I'm afraid of fucking up," I said flatly. "And the costs of it. If I fail, he will zero in on me because no one else ever gets that close. Despite his sad obsession for Batman, he is manipulative, sharp, and sadistic as hell… he's a devil… if he gets into my head-I'm only so strong, Olivia… he genuinely scares me as much as he fascinates…" I leaned against the wall.

"More than the Joker?" Olivia asked surprised.

"When Strange has power like he does now? You bet your ass."

"But there's only so much he can do. It's not like he can cut into your skull like he did the others. You are mystery in of yourself, Babydeth. Strange wouldn't know what to do with you if you didn't have friends. If you kill him, he won't have a chance to get in your head or hurt anyone you cared about. I'm almost surprised you don't want revenge for those that have already been lost like Chantal."

My heart sank, remembering.

"Screw your courage to the sticking place," said Olivia. "You have the power to change the world if you want to. You're just too humble."

"Well, quoting _Macbeth_ really bodes well," I said sarcastically.

"Is that where it's from?" Olivia asked, surprised.

"'Screw your courage to the sticking place'? Yes… while Lady Macbeth is telling Lord Macbeth to man the fuck up and kill King Duncan." I sighed.

"Whoa," said Olivia, weirded out by this. "That doesn't end well for them, right?"

"It does not end well for them at all," I said, shaking my head. "Some theatres say it's bad luck to even mention the name Macbeth unless you're doing it because of all the accidents that happened in productions of the past."

Olivia raised a brow at me. " _You're_ saying it fine."

"I only mind superstitions when I'm around superstitious people. Then, I tiptoe around them. Otherwise, I personally don't care."

"What do they say instead of Macbeth?" Olivia asked, confused.

"The Scottish Play."

"Sounds kinda vague."

I shrugged. "Only to uncultured potatoes."

"Hey," Olivia said, pouting. "I am a gifted machinist, thank you. That is an art in its own right."

"How do you know the name of Chekhov plays and not Macbeth's plot?" I asked.

"The only reason I know stuff about Chekhov was because you named the cat Chekhov so I had to know about the name Chekhov."

I shrugged. "Anyway, back on subject."

"Right," said Olivia flatly. "Murder him. You're the chosen one. He is a scumbag."

I winced. "Don't say chosen one. That is soo cheesy and overused it hurts."

"You know what I meant."

Groaning, I rolled my eyes. "If one of us actually comes up with a good gameplan for murdering a highly intelligent man surrounded by the best security force while he's working as a prison warden and is expecting to be attacked, I'll do it. 'Cause right now, it's impossible to get close to him, and sniping is out of the question when the guards will be on the watch for shit like that. They're former soldiers for goodness' sake!"

"Fine, I'll get on it then," snapped Olivia. "Go make yourself a sandwich with the lights off." She went back down to -1, still smoking.

Olivia worked and thought it over in silence for several weeks. I was left alone with Chekhov to sort out my bitter and depressed thoughts using poems and constitutionals at the park. Most of the time, the poems were only a few phrases that I'd write out and throw away, keeping them to myself. The only hope as I saw it was to wait it out. I mean that was what the original plan was. Wait it out and stay out of Arkham City, but it was a supermassive black hole...

 _Even if we told someone like Batman, there was nothing we could really do to stop Arkham City._

One day, I was sitting out on the bench, losing myself in the calm wintery weather. I could hardly believe it was almost December.

Suddenly, I heard steady footsteps behind me, tromping through the six inches of snow.

I looked back and saw Olivia following my footsteps. She was grinding her teeth as she moved further and further from her house. In spite of her reluctance, Olivia triumphantly sat next to me with a thump. She relaxed a little as she took in the view.

I was surprised at her gall and smiled at little, gazing ahead again.

"We did good," Olivia commented. "It's gonna be gorgeous in the spring."

"Mmm-hmm," I agreed.

She inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh. "Wow, I actually forgot how crisp the air gets."

I put my arm around her tight shoulders.

Olivia leaned against me and clung onto me.

"I actually came out here to tell you I have a plan," she murmured after a while, "but I think it would be better if we came back inside and talked about it."

"Okay," I said.

"The problem is I can't move now."

"I'll carry you," I said, putting my free arm under her knees. I picked her up.

"Do not drop me," Olivia warned, clinging tighter still.

"Never," I said, walking along.

I hit a patch of ice and struggled to keep my balance. "Shit."

Olivia squeaked a bit in fear.

I ended up landing on my butt in the snow, but I still had her safe in my arms.

"Oh my God," Olivia groaned. "Get me back inside."

I chuckled at the moment before getting back up to carry her inside.

As soon as we passed the threshold, Olivia tumbled over to the couch, holding her head. "My nerves," she groaned.

"You're okay," I said, patting her shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

"Fuck you."

"Love you, too. What was your plan?"

Olivia chuckled. "It's gonna be hell on your nerves, but you're crazy enough to pull it off."

Miss Vicki Vale of the Gotham Nightliner entered her dimly lit office at dusk. Not seeing me in the corner, the blonde reporter sat at her desk with a sigh mixed with a shiver. Her eyes noticed the open window and her brows furrowed.

I stepped forward from the shadows.

Vale jumped in alarm.

I held up my hands. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Ms. Vale. I just want to talk."

Her blue eyes widened further. "You're Meredith Storm, aren't you?"

I nodded. "I need your help." I sat on the large desk in front of her.

Very wary of me, Vicki Vale rolled back in her rolling chair against the wall behind her.

"Don't worry. I don't hurt people unless they threaten me," I said, slightly bemused by her fear of me.

"What do you want?" She asked, confused.

I leaned forward and sighed. "You have an upcoming interview with Professor Hugo Strange. Send me in as your substitute. I will record and ask him the questions you wish to ask, but I will also have a few questions of my own that need to be answered. He's too heavily protected for me to get close without getting caught in the process."

"What sort of questions do you want to ask?" asked Vicki Vale.

"I'll send back your tape recorder afterward," I said with a soft smile.

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you... going to kill him?"

"Depends on him, he's a very evil man but I hear he's sometimes reasonable. In any case, I'm saving my friends from that hellhole and he'll probably answer more of my questions than yours." I handed her my forged Gotham Nightliner ID of Sarah Magda and picked the office phone off the cradle. "Use this name. If he looks me up in the computer, this ID will show up in his search as a verified employee of Gotham Nightliner. If anyone asks later, you can say I did this at gunpoint... okay?"

Vale nodded.

"You know what you're gonna say?"

"Yeah."

I dialed the number for her and handed the receiver.

Inhaling, she took it and frowned at me before looking at my ID again. "...Hello, this is Vicki Vale. I'd like to talk with Professor Strange about our appointment tomorrow?... Oh, just a little change. It's still with Gotham Nightliner, but the interviewer will be Sarah Magda. She's very professional... Yes, I've had a scheduling conflict come up on my end. Absolutely ridiculous! I know how difficult it is to reschedule with the professor-but Sarah will be coming instead and I thought I'd let the professor know... Of course, I'll pass on the security protocols to her... No weapons of course." She glanced over to me and then at the ID again. "She has short reddish-brown hair and thick-rimmed glasses... around 5'5", a little curvy... okay, thank you! Bye." Vicki Vale hung up. "You're set."

"Good, I just need an audio recorder and your list of questions," I requested.

"I just need to access my computer then," said Vicki, indicating behind me.

I got off her desk so she could.

Vicki Vale hooked up her recorder to her computer and downloaded audio files. She pulled up her documents. "What did you mean when you said, 'Strange is an very evil man.'?"

I considered what to tell her. "You know how I spent time at the asylum?"

"Yes."

"I knew a lot of the female inmates from the time I spent there. Professor Strange came back sometime after I murdered Dr. Giovanni and escaped. While I was searching the asylum for Angel Smith during the Joker's takeover, I discovered something horrible about several of the patients I knew. They were moderately insane like I was back when. We were friends... but when I saw them that last time... they were absolutely raving... lobotomized and vicious as cornered animals. I barely recognized them. I can't prove it, but I know without any doubt that Strange did it to them in his experiments... It could've happened to me if I hadn't escaped... God knows what he's doing in Arkham City where he has free reign."

Vicki Vale stared up at me, fascinated and yet horrified. "Any idea what those experiments were?"

"I think it has something to do with the TYGER guards and how obedient and devout they are. A friend of mine has listened to a lot of their radio transmissions. You can't buy any of them off. None of them slack off. They never question Strange's orders. Never. It's like they're not human or even American. I know what you're thinking, well-trained soldiers tend have a hive mind and not question orders. That might be said about low-ranking ones, but I'm talking about every guard from private to captain... It all reminds me of Angel's incident with the Mad Hatter. He kidnapped her as an Alice. I found her and fought to save her from him. She did not recognize me, but she was sympathetic to my pain until the Mad Hatter told her to send on my way. Something snapped in her brain and she tried to kill me. He wasn't using his hat because I smashed it-but he used some sort of drug on her and..." I shook my head. "I had to let the cops take her to Arkham Asylum... to get her help... I should've just taken her home, found the others, and left while we still had a chance to escape."

Vicki Vale gazed at me with fascinated eyes, taking all this information in.

I blinked. "How are those questions coming?"

"Oh! Sorry." She found the document and clicked print. "Your story is just fascinating. I'm sure the people would love to hear this. Heck, you could probably sell a book."

"I'm just a lunatic and a thief on the run," I said with a shrug as I leaned against the wall.

Vicki Vale got up from her chair and walked over to the door. "You seem very compassionate and well-spoken. Uh, wait here."

"Not a word to anyone," I said flatly, sitting at her chair.

"Of course. I'll be right back." She walked out the door, and I sat in the dimly lit room. I noticed her tape recorder and realized it was recording. _Sneaky, but if I fail my mission, I can't let this get out._ Frowning, I pressed the stop button and deleted the recording.

I pressed the record button. "Nice try, Vicki," I said. Then, I heard Vicki talking to someone outside. Ducking behind the desk, I let the audio recorder keep recording.

The door squeaked open and the lights switched on. "...I'll just talk to you later, okay?" I heard Vicki say. "I got work to do." I heard the door close. "Storm?" She asked.

I stood up behind the desk.

"Oh, what were you doing?" Vicki Vale asked, frowning.

"Hiding in case someone decided to walk in with you," I explained.

"Okay, here are the questions." She handed me the paper. Then, Vale pulled out a tape recorder from her drawer for me. "And here's this."

I glanced the questions over. "Okey dokey." Folding up the paper, I put it and the tape recorder in my pocket. "If anything happens to me because you sabotage the interview, my friend might send you a nail bomb... It's something she does." I shrugged.

Vicki Vale unplugged her audio recorder from her computer and hit a button. "I won't... but if everything you've said about him is true, I suggest you be very careful."

"You as well," I said with a nod. "When it comes to Professor Strange, death is a mercy." I climbed out her window and used my grappling gun to shoot up to a nearby rooftop.

"Are you ready for this?" Olivia asked, as she finished putting my wig on.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied.

"'Tyger, Tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?'" Olivia recited with a smile.

I smirked uncomfortably. "Are you really reciting that to me when I'm going into the den of the Tyger?" I asked.

"Oh yes, but it doesn't pertain to them. You are the real tyger." She pulled a paper from her pocket and continued reading.

"'In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?'"

Olivia touched my shoulder and ran her hand to my heart.

"'And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?'"

She ran her hand along my skin to my neck and scalp, sending chills down my spine.

"'What the hammer? What the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp,

Dare its deadly terrors clasp!'"

Her lips were by my ear now, speaking in a soft purr.

"'When the stars threw down their spears

And water'd heaven with their tears:

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?'"

I chuckled uncomfortably. _That's funny…_

Olivia turned my chair to face her. Her hazel eyes swallowed mine in their gaze.

"'Tyger tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye,

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?'"

I was breathless and taken aback as her lips nearly lined up with mine.

"Are you my tyger?" Olivia asked me.

"Yes," I said with a soft voice.

"Show me."

I pulled her into my lap a little aggressively and kissed her hard. Then, I lifted her up for a moment as I stood. Casually, I put her in my chair and walked out the door, determined.

I arrived at the building in my old car, fluffed up my red-brown wig, adjusted my glasses, and gave myself a little powder. Sighing, I picked up my bag from the passenger seat and headed up to the door, humming a bit. A camera above the door looked at me with a blinking red light.

I held up the ID on my lanyard. "Hello, I'm here for an interview with Professor Strange," I said with a weak smile.

"Come in," said the guard on the intercom. The door buzzed and I opened the door. A couple of guards were working at the front desk and three were waiting for me with metal detectors.

One held out his hands. "Your bag and coat please."

I handed him my bag and parka.

"Do you have any weapons?"

"Um... my pepper spray in my parka?" I offered. Then, I pulled out Vale's recorder and my phone from my slacks' pockets. "And the voice of the People if you consider that a weapon," I joked casually.

None of them smiled as they looked through my parka and bag. They checked my phone and my recorder. One guy ran a metal detector around me.

"Honestly, guns kinda scare me," I said meekly. "They're so loud."

The metal detector went off around my calf-length boots and the guard looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"Oh the zipper," I explained, lifting up my pant leg to show my boot. "Happens in airline security all the time."

He ran the metal detector along both my zipper lines and the same alarm went off evenly. Then, he patted my boots down to feel for anything. Satisfied, he stood up. "Stand with your legs spread and your arms out, Miss Magda."

I did so and he started feeling along my legs, arms, and body for hidden items. I tensed a little as he started feeling around my groin. "She's clean," said the guard.

"Clean," the other guards agreed.

 _I tend to bathe in the blood of my enemies soo..._

"You can pick up your phone, coat, and pepper spray at the front desk later," said a guard as he handed it to another guard at the desk.

"Oh, okay," I said nervously, relaxing to my normal stance. Another guard handed me my bag and audio recorder.

"Follow us, Miss Magda." The three led me over to an elevator. One guard stood in the back while the other two stood on either side. I stood uncomfortably in the middle.

 _Hate this place already._ "So, uh, you guys enjoy your jobs?" I asked.

"No comment," they said almost simultaneously.

 _Okay..._ "Right, probably a non-disclosure agreement. Just thought I'd ask."

We stood awkwardly as the elevator music kept playing. I adjusted my glasses.

When the elevator doors opened, the three guards escorted me out into a hallway. One guard knocked the door to the room as the parade stopped. "Professor, Miss Magda from Nightliner."

"Come in," answered Professor Strange with his deep voice and slight accent.

A guard opened the door for me. I swallowed nervously before I entered. Professor Strange was standing at his desk, putting away a file that he was looking at. "Please, have a seat, Miss Magda." He indicated to the two chairs in front of his desk.

A quick glance around the room and I noticed that there wasn't a lot going on in the room other than than a large cabinet and the large desk that had several files, a phone, a lamp, a calendar, and a laptop. There was a large window that had a nice view of the city and small security alarms attached to the glass. The glass was thick around the middle, but the small side windows had a chance of being more fragile.

Strange's dark eyes were like magnets as he held firm eye contact on me through his circular glasses. The top of his bald head shined under the light and I saw his dark gray underbeard was finely trimmed. He wore his usual white labcoat with the Arkham City insignia and his security card pinned to the pocket.

"Thank you, Professor. I appreciate you sharing your time with Gotham Nightliner," I said politely, holding out my hand to shake his. "You must be quite busy with the new prison."

We shook hands firmly.

"Yes, the work is certainly plentiful," he said somewhat wryly.

I sat down at the left chair closest to the window and pulled out my clipboard of questions from my bag. As he sat down, I turned on the audio recorder and held it near my face. "As you know, the conversation will be recorded so that quotes are not generalized," I made sure my voice was clear and concise. Then, I would point the tape recorder toward him when I finished speaking.

"Of course," he said as he folded his hands on the desk. "I'm rather surprised Miss Vale was unable to make it. Will you have coffee or water?"

 _Coffee sounds amazing right now._ "Coffee would be nice, please."

"Coffee for myself and Miss Magda," said Professor Strange to one of the guards. "Leave us."

"Yes, Professor," said the guards, closing the door behind them.

"I can barely wrap my head around it myself," I said, shaking my head. "But whatever she found must be pretty big... Those TYGER guards are very impressive by the way," I commented admiringly.

"Yes, they certainly are." The corner of his mouth curled slightly. "What are your questions?"

I nodded and looked down to my clipboard. "You have prior experience of working in Arkham Asylum as well as Blackgate Penitentiary. If Arkham City is an improvement, how so?"

"The asylum and penitentiary were spinning doors for this city's criminals. Arkham City is completely secure. The TYGER guard has captured all the criminals in the city. It provides complete safety for civilians like yourself... allows Gotham to heal."

"So Black Mask's escape was a fluke?" I asked.

Strange's expression did not change. "He found a weakness that we quickly rectified. If the city was as it used to be, he would've been left to run amok for months before being recaptured by a masked vigilante no less. TYGER captured him within a few days."

"Is that all Arkham City and TYGER does?" I asked. "Just catch them and put them away? As a criminal psychiatrist, do you really see no chance at all for rehabilitation?"

"These are hardened criminals twisted by greed, power, knowledge, and fantasies. Within Arkham City walls, they can live out their anarchic ways without harming innocent life. Perhaps with time, they will learn that people can't live in anarchy alone."

"What about the civilian protesters of Arkham City that were suddenly imprisoned for rather minor crimes? People that never really done anything illegal before as well as other first offenders? Do they really need to be locked up with these hardened criminals?"

"I admit that is a rather unfortunate affair of our legal system," said Strange, "but I am only a warden to Arkham City... a new prison that is constantly improving and evolving to handle the wards within. I don't make the laws of Gotham City."

"That's fair," I admitted.

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter," said Professor Strange.

A TYGER guard entered with a tray with a kettle, two cups, sugar, and cream. He set it at the side of the desk and walked out without a word.

"That last question was rather accusatory," Strange commented, pouring for himself and me.

I frowned to myself, too, and stopped the recorder. "Off-record, I thought so, too. Maybe she pulled that from one of her Mayor Sharp questions? Yet, at the same time it does make a fair point. There should be an option for first-time offenders. We all make mistakes. I mean how many dumb things have you done while you were a kid?"

"None," he said flatly, taking a cup of coffee. "I was more interested in my studies. Yourself?"

 _Dash of truth to feed into the lie._ I took my cup and brushed my nail against the surface of the steaming liquid. "Oh, nothing really. I was more interested in my books, too... Well... I guess one time…"

"Yes?" Strange asked, curious.

I shrugged. "Oh, when I was a little girl, I did steal a small pack of gum. My father found out and was absolutely furious. I don't remember what exactly happened after he found out, but he said he made me apologize to the store manager and give it back. I'm sure he yelled at me and I started crying..." I sighed. "He's a good man... loves his children. He's just... very firm in his morals and beliefs." I glanced down at my coffee and noticed my nail hadn't changed color. _Strange hadn't spiked my coffee._ I gave it some sugar and a dash of cream. "Ah mistakes," I murmured. "But let's get back to the official questions, sorry about the tangent."

He seemed oddly interested, drinking his coffee. "No, no, perfectly fine," said Strange, dismissively. "I also am more accustomed to asking questions and listening. How is your relationship with your father presently?"

"We haven't spoken in years," I said flatly, sipping from my cup. "The fact of the matter is that we're different people." I cleared my throat, set my cup down, and continued the recording. "What do you think of Bruce Wayne's campaign against Mayor Sharp and Arkham City?"

The professor folded his hands on the desk. "A wealthy man with unhealthy sentiments about Crime Alley where his parents were murdered when he was a child."

"So it's more about Mr. Wayne's attachment to that moment in his life than anything logical?"

"I have been unable to conduct a psychological profile on Bruce Wayne, but judging by his sudden interest in politics, he clings to that moment more than he wishes to admit after all these years."

"Some scars never fade," I commented. "Do you think Mr. Wayne has no real merit because of that conflict of interest?"

"Some perhaps... Arkham City is a new idea and new ideas can be frightening to some people who don't want to change… to move on. People must be willing to evolve in order to improve. I am all too happy to be part of the evolution for a long, broken system."

I nodded, understanding.

"What do _you_ think of Arkham City?" Professor Strange asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"Me?..." I sighed, considering that. "Well, I question it. Especially with Mayor Sharp at the head... Everyone feels suspicious about him. I can't believe he managed to win the election after that catastrophe at the asylum; but the people have spoken and there's been worse mayors. When you see politicians come and go enough, you start to see patterns. He seems well-rehearsed and booming with confidence most of the time... But if you ask anybody who has known him in the past, they'll say that he was the opposite of his surname." I chuckled softly. _That boy is as sharp as a bowlin' ball._ "Excuse me. One source said 'he was as sharp as a bowling ball'."

Professor Strange cracked a smile. "Oh really?"

"But you know a lot politicians put on a show for the voters... the bigger the show the more you wonder what they're hiding. I mean corruption is practically expected in Gotham City. Remember when Harvey Dent was like a shining knight while he was running for District Attorney... and he then turned into Two-Face? A man that would kill a person on a flip of a coin? I feel we're always looking out for whatever nightmare is going to happen next."

"If he somehow does turn out to be corrupt, I promise you that he is not above being imprisoned in Arkham City for his crimes. Mayor or not, the TYGER guard does not take bribes and nor do I."

"That's good to hear," I said with a smile. "It seems like you have a good handle on things and you're qualified. Maybe people _are_ just afraid of change... but at the same time, there have been accusations."

" _Unfounded_ accusations," Professor Strange corrected dryly.

"Of course... Politicians are one thing, but genuine professionals can be harder to read. There is no rehearsal with you. You live and breathe your craft in a reserved, intelligent fashion that comes off as charismatic to some. People always worry about the reserved ones."

"You had that problem as well?"

"Oh, yes. 'It's always the quiet ones'," I said, rolling my eyes as I took another sip of coffee. "Just because we don't shout every single thought in our minds 24/7, but just a few more questions." I looked down at my clipboard and set down my cup. "What do you think of Mayor Sharp?"

Professor Strange considered with a sigh. "I can't really say a bad word about him. I am not too surprised at how well he has taken a shine to politics. Gotham is reasonably wary of his movements, but with time I think we will all start to see the success of Arkham City for sure."

"Is the TYGER name is based off the William Blake poem?" I asked.

"I believe it is… do you know it?"

I recited the first part.

"'Tyger, tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry.'

I smiled to myself. "I read a few books that referenced Blake and then I read him and memorized a few pieces. At least, the pieces that struck a chord with me. Him and Edgar Allan Poe."

"Poe always seemed hopelessly forlorn to me," commented Strange.

"That's fair," I said with a chuckle. "That's my high school years in a nutshell." I shook my head and felt my anxiety rising. "Last question. Are you afraid these criminals are going to lash out at you someday? Or are you just used to them threatening you at this point?"

"I suppose I'm used to it, but there is no escaping Arkham City."

My cup slipped from my hands and broke on the ground. I set down my tape recorder. "Oh shoot! I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, bending down to grab the knife in my left boot.

"It's-"

I hurdled over the desk and stabbed him in the chest while slamming him in his chair into the back wall. I felt the blood seep into his shirt onto my hand.

His dark eyes met mine again

Then, I stabbed him repeatedly, shaking with adrenaline.

At one point, Professor Strange took a hold of my knife hand before the blade went into his flesh again. He was rather dazed, but stared right into my eyes. "I was starting to wonder," Strange said with a tight voice.

I stared right back into his eyes. "I am the goddess of vengeance, and this is for my sisters."

TYGER guards came rushing in. I ducked down behind the desk with the tape recorder.

A HAWK crashed through the window, setting off smoke. As I ran up to the window, an ARACHMECH attached itself to my torso. I leapt out the broken window, and the ARACHMECH launched me over to another building. The TYGERs shot after me, occasionally clipping me, but I was more dazed by how I was flying through the air. Never failed to scare and thrill the hell out of me.

As I reached the top of the nearby building, TYGER helicopters started flying my way.

"Did you get him?" Olivia asked from the ARACHMECH.

"I stabbed him repeatedly... but he didn't seem extremely surprised," I told her. "Maybe I should go back and cut off his head."

"Jesus, get out of there. I already sent in some explosives."

Large HAWKs flew into the window and exploded.

"Damn," I commented to myself. Quickly, I continued leaping from building to building and the helicopters continued shooting at me.

After a while, I managed to slip away from them in a nightclub. There, I took off my wig and makeup in one of the single bathrooms. I stole one of the mink coats, that was just lying around the bar and headed back outside, ruffling my black hair. Casually, I hailed a taxi and dropped off a few blocks away from home. I headed down to -1 to sit on the 70's couch while Olivia was working at her computers.

"Nice coat," she commented, looking at the mink.

I laid it over an arm and lied down. "How's damage control?"

"Working it out. He's being taken to Gotham General for Intensive Care. Maybe I should've fabricated a DNR..."

"God, I was shaking so bad," I said, looking at my hands. "There's no chance he's gonna die in that hospital."

"Well, you've vitally injured him and I laced your knives with a neurotoxin."

"You did?" I commented, surprised.

"Absolutely. I hate this fucker. Wasn't he writhing in pain? Or at least looking a little stiff?"

"He didn't move much after I hid behind his desk from the intervening TYGER guards," I commented, scratching my head. "Kinda surprised he didn't move."

"Neurotoxin," Olivia confirmed. "Next steps are explosive HAWKs. Leave it to me. You get yourself a drink and me a cup of coffee. It's gonna be a long night."

I nodded and prepared her some coffee.

When I awoke in Olivia's bedroom, my head was in absolute agony. I took the pain pills on the side table and groggily walked around. Olivia was watching the news in the living room. Dark circles were under her eyes. I walked over and sat beside her. My mugshot was on television along with my fake Nightliner ID.

"This has been going on since last night," said Olivia, rubbing her eyes. "At this rate, a neighbor or cabbie is going to call the hotline and zero in on both of us."

"Is Draco Ex Machina. ready?" I asked.

"As ready as it will ever be," said Olivia with a sigh.

"Strange is still alive?"

"Son of a bitch pulled through intensive care, what I assume is the League cured his poison, and the back of my paranoia has been itching all night. We got off too easy. What if they let you go so they could find you later? What if they somehow know?"

"Let's go into negative mode, then," I said, turning off the TV.

"I was hoping you'd say that," she said. "Because I was hoping you could do a final errand for me if you don't mind? It's not in the city… but it's my father's birthday."

I blinked. "Oh."

Olivia gazed off, sighing. "This _not_ my usual thing, but could you go to his gravesite and read a letter to him from me?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I've meaning to do it for a _long_ time."

I nodded. "No problem. Just hand me the letter and I'll go."

Olivia smiled to herself. "I love you so fucking much."

"I love you, too." I held her close to me.

"Even if I turn out to be imaginary?"

I chuckled. "I'll only love you more because imagination is often so much more beautiful than real life. Some people waste away their entire lives on dreams… not all of them get to hold them and talk with them… but I did… and I won't regret a second of it."

We held onto each other for a good while and then she let go.

Olivia went to her room and Chekhov took her place, cuddling in my lap. He was getting so big. I stroked his gray fur and Chekhov purred, slowly blinking his green eyes.

Olivia returned with a coat and a small box that had a map as well as the letter in an envelope. I headed into the walk-in closet, brushing off cat hair. The green coat was in the closet. It had a hood and a high collar that covered the mouth.

After giving her a kiss, I headed off to the gravesite in the truck It was a good forty-minute drive outside of the city. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach about the whole thing.

 _She's so worried and sad… All because I failed… Everything's so bittersweet..._

 _Some goddess of vengeance you turned out to be…_

 _I know…_

 _Gonna kick yourself to death? Write some more poems? Perhaps you'll write one about the charismatic and mysterious Professor Strange?_

 _He's a monster… with a fascinating psyche… obsessed with Batman to the point of wishing to become him… That's all Arkham City is... A desperate demonstration of his superiority before he's snuffed out… Almost works, too… But Batman outwits him and Ra's al Ghul only used him as a puppet. It's really sad when you think about it..._

 _Woe to the man washed away by the waves of glory and self-righteousness._

 _Yet none shall mourn his icy soul... soaked in the blood of fools and demons,_

 _Cloaked in the pages of his knowledge, buried in suffocating disappointment,_

 _He is left to weep within the dark shadow of a figure extending leather wings._

 _Yeah… send that poem to him._

 _I'm not that cruel._

 _Why pity him at all after all the things he has done and has yet to do? He would have no pity for your sorry ass let alone Olivia._

 _Well, that's the difference between him and me…_

 _And you know none of this really matters… none of those people actually existed… and he didn't have an opportunity to hurt you yet… It didn't get personal… like…_

 _Giovanni…_

 _Oh yes, then you would've spilled his blood all over that office. You wouldn't have stopped for nothing. You only avenge yourself in the end… You're no champion… Why did you even say that you were the goddess of vengeance? That was so stupid and cheesy. It told him exactly who you were._

 _He wasn't surprised… "I was starting to wonder," he said._

 _Well, you'd sniff something wrong, too, if your interviewer suddenly changed to some person you never heard of._

 _But my act was enough to confuse him… lull him into a false sense of security…_

 _Only for you to fail. Why did you think stabbing him was enough?_

 _I know… I panicked… ran out of time..._

 _Could've broken his neck…_

 _I wasn't sure about his physical strength for resistance. Sometimes, he's in peak shape. Other times he's meh... It would've been something if he was in peak shape... If he had actually fought for his last chance instead of just getting shoved aside for the Joker climax…_

 _Again… the pity card._

 _I know. I fucking know. It happens with some Batman villains, some of them have such sad backgrounds and powerful moments of humanity that make them such well-rounded characters. It's like how Scarecrow struck a chord with me in "Mad Love and Other Stories". He became an English teacher and made a good connection with a wonderful student. When her heart was coldly broken by some lunkhead asshole, Crane strove to avenge her with his alter ego. That hit me right in the heart._

 _Not sure if that particular moment happened in Arkhamverse with how cold this place tends to be, but that tends to be the gist of most Batman villains unless they're someone completely irredeemable like the Joker._

 _But there is no redeeming Professor Strange..._

 _Only pity…_

I arrived at the place and eventually found the gravestone inscribed: "Felix A. Webber". The rest was covered by ice and snow. Next to him was a gravestone with Olivia's name on it. Her death day was left blank.

 _Always prepared..._

"Hey," I said to Felix's stone. "Olivia asked me to come here to read something to you." I knelt down and worked on brushing aside the ice and snow, reading the rest of the inscription. "May Your Dreams Never Die. Born April-"

 _APRIL!?_

My hands trembling, I opened the envelope.

 _Baby Death,_

 _I found a tracker implanted in your clothes when I found you in bed. He's outfoxed us again, but I have aces up my sleeves that are ready to go when the TYGERs arrive to search my home while you read this letter. While their attention is on me, you must leave the country now. Follow the instructions on the back. You have brought me this far, and I will carry out this predicament on your own. If I fail, I have an escape but you do not. You and I have seen the cruelty and manipulation this monster is capable of. You cannot fall into his hands because he will make you suffer for what you've tried to do. If he discovers your truths, Hell knows what he will do with them and your beautiful mind. I've lived the effects of abusive psychiatry and refuse to let that fate befall you. Nothing you have ever done in your entire life is deserving of that horror. Please, let me save you as you have saved me. You have opened my eyes to happiness and hope... reminded me that I was capable of giving a shit like my father Felix. As long as I know you're safe and I have no distractions, I may survive this chess game between two control freaks. Lie low and commit no crimes other than listed in instructions._

 _Love Yourself,_

 _Sweet Potato_

 _P.S. My number and business line is disconnected or has an automated message system for our clientele. Do not call it._

My heart sinking, I gazed down at Felix's grave and then Olivia's future grave. The wind started to pick up and I looked on the back of the letter for the remaining instructions.

 _Drive down to Washington DC, use key on safe deposit box-fly from airport to London-drive car to house outside of Brighton- You'll have everything you'll ever need- Don't open present until Christmas- If hesitant, please call this number-_

I immediately dialed the number, heading back to the truck, feeling shocked and upset.

"Hello?" A familiar male voice answered.

"Bruce?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Why did Advocate give me your number?"

"Because she thought that you would listen to me if you couldn't listen to her. She said I was your Grey Ghost."

I stopped. "She said that?"

"Yes."

I did a shuddering sigh with the shiver that ran through me with the bitter wind. "She's got all her ducks in a row," I said to myself bitterly. "Everything perfect except one variable. Me."

"She's only trying to protect you and for good reason," said Bruce.

"Why are you helping out with this?" I asked, confused.

"She said you would be able to quit. She also offered information I didn't have on Arkham City."

"How nice," I commented, moving forward. "You getting this information. Me getting off the hook just like that. My friends left to suffer and die while I am too precious and delicate to fight alongside them. That's a lot of guilt for me to live with."

"Is it worse than staying and risking more trouble for them?"

"I don't know. I just know that I am frustrated and upset as hell at me, at her, at this entire situation." Tears rolled down my face. "I literally can't do anything except run away and hide-It's all my fault they found out where she is. I didn't kill him. I didn't do anything right!"

"Do what's right _now_ , Meredith," said Bruce. "She's counting on you."

"Do you even know what she's going to do, Bruce?" I asked as I leaned against the truck, tears rolling down my face.

He was silent.

I swallowed. "Well, I guess you'll see along with everyone else." I hung up.

 _This can't be the right decision… The hero comes running back…_

 _You're not a hero… You're a lunatic, thief, and killer. Nobility won't save anyone here… unless you count the chivalry of respecting the lady's choice as well as the utter logic. She's smarter than you will ever be. Get your ass out of Dodge, you moron._

I drove down to DC, mindlessly moving along with the instructions. The safety deposit box contained a sealed envelope with a United Kingdom passport, driver's license, American dollars, British pounds, and a background story for the new identity of Mary Beth Wilson. I took to the airport and picked up my flight plan from the front desk.

I ended up on the first class end on the flight and was all too happy to receive my complimentary drink. Restless, I picked at my food and could not rest though my eyes were heavy with fatigue. My heart was heavier still. I longed to rip it out of my chest to end that dull yet agonizing pain.

When I reached London, I noted heavier security than what I was familiar with at this airport. Shrugging it off, I kept my eyes down and went through security with relative ease.

Then, there were gunshots and screams. I ducked down behind a kiosk and saw a gunman holding a little girl hostage. He had dark hair and a pinkish complexion.

"I swear to God! I am an American and I will blow her head off!" He shouted, backing away with the kid who was starting to cry.

 _Pinkie?..._ _The guy who wanted on my plane in Brazil, insulted the RABBOT, got blasted by pink ink, and fired a bazooka at me trying to steal the book? What a cunt…_

He started running my way, practically dragging the kid. I stuck out my leg at the last second, tripping them. He fell halfway on top of the child. Jewelry came flying out of his pockets. Quickly, I pulled the girl away from him, carried her away, and ducked behind a gift shop's counter.

"Mummy, I want my mummy," she whimpered.

I shushed her. "It's not safe," I hissed.

Security came rushing in and we heard gun shots. One bullet flew by us.

The girl squeaked in terror, hanging onto me tighter.

I listened intently, patting her absentmindedly.

"Get off me, you motherfuckers!" Pinkie shouted.

Peering around the corner, I saw officers cuffing the man and frisking him.

I sighed with relief, but the kid was absolutely terrified… frozen with fear. "Hey, Kiddo," I said soothingly as I touched her shoulder. "It's all over. Let's go find your mummy."

She looked hesitant.

"What's your name?"

"Matilda."

"That's a pretty name. Mine's Mary. Can you get up?"

"I don't know. My leg hurts. He fell on me…"

"You mind if I carry you, Matilda?"

"Okay."

I picked her up again and carried her out.

Pinkie spotted me as the officers led him away. "You fucking bitch, I'll fucking get you!"

"Good luck with that, Scumbag!" I shouted after him. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

"Arrest her, you idiots! She's an international thief!" Pinkie shouted at the cops. "She's the Kindling!"

I frowned after him, shaking my head.

"Nice try, Criminal," said one of the cops. "Thieves aren't heroic."

"I swear on my mother's grave," said Pinkie. "This bitch snatched a 500 million dollar book from me!"

People looked from him to me and I shrugged, holding the girl in my arms.

A woman came running over to me and she took Matilda in her arms.

"Mummy," cried Matilda.

The mother cooed over her, holding her daughter like she'd never let her go. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I bowed my head and continued along my way. Some people gave me appreciative nods as well as curious ones. I think a few were even recording me with their phones.

Ignoring them, I headed out to the short-term parking lot to find the blue car. It was pretty quiet, but my mind was still abuzz with the pain in my chest. I didn't really care about anything.

Finally, I found the car and drove off through London. My eyes started drooping as I got closer to Brighton and I suddenly saw sirens come up behind me. I pulled over to the side and the police car followed suit.

Sighing, I considered how long it would take for this to move along and leaned my face into the steering wheel to rest my eyes.

Suddenly, the officer knocked on my window, indicating for me to roll it down.

"Can I see your identification, please?" I asked him, rolling it down a bit.

The officer snorted a little and showed me his identification. _Pretty legit._

I handed him my license and other information from the glovebox.

The cop studied the information. "Have you been drinking, Miss?"

"It's mostly fatigue from traveling," I explained. "But I did have one drink on my flight over the Atlantic."

"Where are you from?"

"Well, I used to live in Oregon-in the United States, but I moved out to Brighton a couple years back. I'm sorry. I'm usually better about getting rest, but sometimes you just can't. I'm almost there."

"Sure… but we can't have you swerving all over the road like that, yeah?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "I'm sorry, Sir."

"I'll just be checking your information, and then we'll do a breathalyzer test, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

He headed over to his car and ran the information into his computer. I rested my eyes again.

I awoke to him, tapping on the side of my door with a breathalyzer. "Blow into this for me, please."

Sighing, I blew into the tube and the device calculated my sobriety.

"0.01," he commented, handing back my stuff.

Suddenly, a car went speeding by us almost hitting him.

"Fuckwits!" He shouted after them. "You take a bloody nap before you drive another meter, yeah?!" The cop pointed to me.

"Yeah," I agreed half-heartedly.

Without another word, he jumped back into his car and screeched after the idiots that just sped by us. I rolled up my window and closed my eyes again.

When I awoke again, I saw it was getting dark. Groaning and giving my face a slap awake, I drove onward to Brighton to find my new home. It was a cottage with no separating walls except for the bedroom. The place was simple and pretty. It was white and blue like Olivia's upstairs. I found a laptop on a desk, the window faced the ocean… _or whatever that body of water was called. The channel? Ugh whatever._

Quickly, I opened it up to see if there was anything inside it. There were clips of robotic dragons flying through the sky gracefully, masterfully attacking TYGER helicopters and other vehicles with anti-aircraft weapons. It almost seemed hopeless for the TYGER guard as Draco Ex Machina mowed them down mercilessly. As the TYGERs retreated, the Air Force became involved and blasted a dragon out of the sky. It crashed down, landing on the house and exploded. The other dragon came spiraling down by the house as if it lost control of navigation. It self-destructed, taking down one more TYGER vehicle. I scanned the news titles and words. "Drifter's Final Stand", "Excavation Impossible Due to Mines", "Advocate and Storm"."

There were two emails on the computer. One was from Olivia and the other was from SONNY, her robot.

I read Olivia's email first.

 _Meredith,_

 _No matter what you might think, know that this is my completely fault._

 _Olivia_

Sighing, I continued onto SONNY's email, which was more recent.

MEREDITH STORM:

I AM SORRY, MISS. ON NOVEMBER 30TH AT 5;33 PM EST, OLIVIA WEBBER'S SKULL WAS CRUSHED BY A FALLEN SUPPORT FROM **DRACO** 'S IMPACT. SYSTEMS ALSO DAMAGED FROM **EX MACHINA** 'S IMPACT. ALL IS BEING REPAIRED AND HANDLED AS PROTOCOL DICTATES. FOR YOUR SAFETY, MAINTAIN POST UNTIL ARKHAM CITY'S END. ALL FUTURE INQUIRIES AND REQUESTS CAN BE MADE VIA THIS COMPUTER AND MICROPHONES ON ARACHMECHS.

EVER YOUR SERVANT,

SONNY

I stared at the email, reading it again and again until my eyes started disjointing and jumbling the words. Turning away from the computer, I lied down on the ground by the fireplace. It suddenly turned on automatically, and I stared into the flames for a long time.

Suddenly, I awoke to a knock. From the window view, I could see it was snowing heavily outside. I didn't know how much time had passed.

The knock was rather persistent.

Zombie-like, I stumbled over to the door and opened it.

Two women were shivering outside. "Please, can we use your phone?" One of them asked with an interesting accent I couldn't discern. "We're lost."

I frowned, looking at them up and down. My stomach gave me a funny feeling, maybe because I was depressed and hungry. "Brighton isn't far, just follow the coastline that way," I said bitterly, closing the door.

One of them stopped the door from closing. "Won't you come with us? You are missed in Gotham City."

I sensed more behind me and-

I brewed myself a cup of coffee as my wounds closed up. My clothes were ripped up and covered in blood. Blinking, I frowned at my cup and looked around the house to see it was a complete mess, broken glass and blood everywhere. One assassin was hanging out of a broken window, impaled by broken glass. The second was half way in the fireplace. A third was hung over the couch. Two more were on the floor. All of them had their swords run through them, but that seemed like an afterthought when some had blue faces and bruised necks or broken skulls with gray matter oozing out.

 _I blacked out?_ "Huh," I muttered. "That's new."

I searched them and found plenty of weapons, but one had a manila envelope in her jacket.

Frowning, I opened it up and saw photographs of Lucy in confinement. There was another with her face was bloodied and beaten. After those, were pictures of Tim and Mark in Arkham City. There was one word on each photograph, forming a whole sentence all together.

 _Return to Gotham or They Die_

Fuming, I threw the photos and they flew off into different corners of the cottage and I screamed, clawing at the sides of my face.

 _Son of a fucking bitch!_

 _Be done with them! Let the final veil unfurl and become a monster! Gods don't concern themselves with the miniscule lives of mortals._

 _Then why do they always interfere in the stories?_

 _They are but pawns as Strange uses them! With nothing more to lose, he will have no power over you. Wait it out and smile, knowing he will sink into death's arms, screaming and begging for more time when the Demon will have none!_

 _What god would I be, then? To cowardly lie in wait while the people who love me suffer?_

 _The one that honored the wishes of the one who loved her most. The one you couldn't protect at all._

 _She isn't dead._

I sat down on the bloodied couch.

 _She CAN'T be dead._

 _So the robots are lying to you about a crushed skull of all things?_

Tears ran down my face and I stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. My heart tightened and palpitated as I weakly gripped at it.

 _Look at how much pain it brings you… how it tortures you… Wouldn't it be better if you just didn't give a fuck anymore?_

 _What if I didn't give a fuck AND went to Arkham City? Match my hand against his, walk the trials of Arkham once more._

 _Because you're a fucking masochist?_

 _Maybe… otherwise, I'm left with the pain in my chest. Why not kill more of the people I hate to soothe the hatred in me? The true path to not giving a fuck._

I glanced around at the bodies around me.

 _I should send in my response to this lovely invitation…_

Smirking for a moment, I deliriously chuckled and worked on cutting off the heads of the assassins.

Using a cargo plane, I returned to Gotham in the night and headed over to city hall in my Santa suit with my bag of Christmas goodies. Humming Jingle Bells, I set down four heads on the steps, they each had a letter on their foreheads spelling out R-S-V-P.

I returned later in normal clothes, skin covered in Anthrax while Professor Strange did a press conference alongside Mayor Sharp. In my hands was a hat box, it was labeled To: Hugo.

For a long time, I stared up at the podium, waiting for him to notice me at the back of the crowd. His dark eyes eventually met mine and I raised my hand politely. "Yes, Miss Storm?" Professor Strange asked, bemused.

People gasped and turned around to look at me. TYGER guards moved in place, boxing me in.

"On behalf of your more charitable twin, Santa Claus," I said, speaking loud and clear. "I bring you this lump of coal to help warm your icy heart." I knelt down and set down the hat box in front of me, putting my hands on my head.

People stared and a few smirked, confused at my actions.

The professor was amused judging by his smirk, but he was also suspicious. "Everyone, get back. Captain, open the box."

People got back and one of the guards with a red beret approached and opened the box. He grimaced and looked at me. Carefully, he lifted up the charred black head and looked inside for a bomb or something.

"Oh my God, is that a head?!" A man shouted.

"Professor, it is a burnt, severed head," the captain confirmed, putting the head back.

"I knew he'd like it," I said to the captain while the crowd muttered in disgust.

The captain gave me a disgusted look and picked up the box, waving the other guards over.

One knocked me to the ground and cuffed my hands behind my back. Another yanked off my boots and found my knives.

Professor Strange walked up through the crowd, and his polished, black shoes were right by my face. "Where are the bodies?" He asked me.

"Too heavy. Left the bodies at my new home in Brighton," I said with a shrug, trying to look up at him with my eyes. "And for what it's worth, they attacked me first."

Professor Strange softly snorted, shaking his head.

The guards pulled me up while the reporters were snapping pictures.

"Leave my friends alone," I said to Strange so he could hear. "They've retired."

"That will depend on your continued cooperation, Miss Storm," he said. "Take her away."

The guards steered me inside their tank-like vehicle while I was barefoot.

I hummed a bit of Jingle Bells.

"The prisoner will be quiet," The higher guard commanded.

I snorted. "But we're all prisoners here, don't you see?"

"I see that you're a lunatic. If you so much as cough, I will beat the shit out of you the rest of the way."

Rolling my eyes, I remained quiet the rest of the way into Arkham City. _No need to reveal my abilities too soon._

I could hear Strange's automated announcements as I was taken through processing at the main facility

"You are mine, new inmates. Let me introduce myself: I am Professor Hugo Strange and I am in charge of the Arkham City Facility. Up until this point, you have shown total disregard for the law, for society, and yourself. From this moment on, you are no longer part of the society that you have shown no respect for. You have been separated from the good people of Gotham. By committing the actions that resulted in you being sent here, you have given up the right to a so-called normal life."

My clothes were removed. I was hosed off with freezing cold water, put into an red jumpsuit. Shackles were on my feet and arms, restricting the length of my stride and reach. The locks looked more complex than the usual police cuffs, but I doubted that they were impossible to pick.

"While in my custody, you will follow the rules of Arkham City to the letter. These rules ensure your continued well being. Rule 1: Do not approach the security wall surrounding the facility. Any attempt to approach the wall will be considered an act of escape and will be met with extreme force. Rule 2: All prisoners must surrender themselves for full psychiatric examination when requested. Failure to surrender will be met with extreme force followed by a level nine and ten psychiatric profiling. Rule 3: TYGER operatives have full jurisdiction in Arkham City. If for any reason a TYGER operative approaches or issues an order to you, you must immediately adopt a kneeling position and place both hands on the back of your head. Failure to adopt this position will be considered an aggressive response and will be met with extreme force. These rules are mandatory and by the power vested in me, by the people of Gotham City, lawful."

I was put into a cell with a cot nailed to the ground and a toilet. With a sigh, I sat down in my cot and leaned against the wall, blankly staring up at the ceiling for what felt like a long time. Absentmindedly, I picked at the cuffs and smiled to myself.


	9. Chapter 9: Welcome to Arkham City

CHAPTER NINE: WELCOME TO ARKHAM CITY

I hummed a tune softly in my cell, waiting for hours and hours.

Suddenly the door slid open, four TYGERs awaited me.

"Tyger, tyger, burning bright," I murmured.

"Get up, Prisoner."

I got up and strolled out of my cell. They escorted me tightly to the interview room where Strange was waiting. As I sat down, my shackles were revealed to be loose as they hung loose from my belt. I crossed my legs and the leg shackles fell off.

The guards were right by me and looked alarmed, but Strange held up his hand, dismissing their fears. They stepped back into the four corners of the room.

"Remove the restraints," Strange commanded.

I politely handed my restraints to the guards.

"Leave us."

"Professor, are you sure?" One of them asked, concerned. "She did try to kill you."

"She knows better now." He adjusted his circular glasses and kept his dark eyes on me.

The guards left and closed the door behind them.

I raised a brow at Strange and leaned back in my chair.

"You and Olivia Webber caused quite a bit of trouble," he commented.

"Yeah?" I scathed. "Well, you asked for it after the all you did in the asylum."

"Interesting. You never threatened my life so directly until you realized Angel Smith was being followed. I would think that a 'goddess of vengeance' would've acted sooner."

 _Yeah, I knew that was a little much._ "The best vengeance isn't swift. It builds over time. A sudden flare is shocking and sometimes terrifying, but a fire that rises and never stops is haunting."

"You know your way with words, Miss Storm," complimented Professor Strange. "Olivia Webber must be quite a counterpoint for you."

"She was," I agreed. "It made us great partners."

Strange raised a brow. "Was?"

"She's dead, obviously... from the events of Draco Ex Machina. The one that fell on the house was Draco and the other was Ex Machina."

"I see... intervening dragons. How did she build such large and heavily armed machines without being seen?" He asked.

"Overseas, some places will do anything if the price is right and you have proper blueprints. They were purely built for defense against anyone trying to take her. Olivia had severe agoraphobia... I did my best to help her overcome it, but it was never enough. At best, I might've inspired her to not blow up her house if the authorities ever came knocking at her door."

"Excavation has been going on for several days, and so far they have found no remains."

I folded my arms.

Professor Strange raised a brow at me. "I hope you haven't forgotten Angel Smith in your grief. She's depending on you."

I scathed. "There's an underground bunker under the house," I said simply. "It's impossible to get into if you aren't Olivia or me. It won't let me in until Arkham City blows over because I'm not supposed to be here. I am supposed to be in Brighton. Olivia was down there when her skull was crushed by a fallen support. Her robot sent me an email reporting this incident."

"Perhaps she lied to protect herself?" Strange suggested.

"She wouldn't lie to me like that," I said firmly. "We're partners and we know each other all too well. And even if that were true, I have no means of getting down there to find out until Arkham City is over."

"That may be a long time."

"Don't kid yourself. It might be a few years at best, but the cracks will start to show more and more."

"I meant for her body to lie down there," said Strange, "if she is dead."

"They'll probably throw it in the freezer or something. Olivia had a protocol for everything."

"What was Felix Park about?"

"Her father," I said flatly.

"Really?"

"It was built as a memoriam and a hope... Hope that one day she might step outside and look."

"That's all?"

"What else does there need to be?" I asked, exasperated. "It used to be nothing but an abandoned field that condensed years of litter. Felix Inc. was created as an outlet for philanthropy that is meaningful to us."

"Giving back after taking what you want?" Strange asked, bemused.

"A tax write-off," I said with a smirk.

He chuckled.

"By the way, what gave me away in the United Kingdom? Was it the incident at the airport?"

"I'm afraid so. It seems to be your philanthropic acts give you away."

"Pinky's a sore loser," I said, bitterly.

"Pinky?" He asked.

"Oh, incident in Brazil," I said dismissively. "Long story short, I didn't let him on my plane because there was little room already and he was after the same thing. One of the robots sprayed him with a pink ink and knocked him out. He also fired a bazooka at me in Argentina while I was making my getaway. Stopped him in London because he was using a little girl as a shield."

"Something _you_ would never do?"

I shook my head. "Maybe a man, but not an innocent child. He was saying things like 'I'm an American, and I will murder this child. I swear to God.' Like, Jesus. Take it down a notch, fucking psycho."

"It must bother you to lumped in with people like him."

"It does," I confirmed. "People like him are so petty and don't care as long as they get paid."

"Even when you had your desperate times at the beginning of this… career choice?"

I sighed. "I understand desperate, but he's was clearly okay if he's moving internationally. Back in those early days, I stole the wallets of rich men and food. I was starving. I had nothing to prove I could work legally in the country. Stealing was the best option I had compared to everything else... to begging, to... prostitution... I am humble, but I have pride."

"And the morals instilled by your father?" Professor Strange asked.

I raised a brow at Strange. "You still believe my gum story?"

"To be a skilled liar, you have to take parts of the truth to make yourself believable."

"Hmm," I nodded.

"You mentioned him to Dr. Cassiday as well."

I smirked. "Well, yeah. I told her the truth, but the truth itself is difficult to believe."

"Yes, alternate universes, conspiracy... You still believe that?"

"Well, there's no proof for anything else. I'm still on the alternate universe train, because my world was definitely different. No superheroes or aliens... except in our dreams, cartoons, comics... pure entertainment."

"Anything similar to Batman or Gotham City?"

I shook my head. "I've never seen a city so forlorn, but some characters are kinda like parts of Batman with the broodiness, inventiveness, and everything. Um... there was... Wolverine. He was pretty broody, but he was also very angry. Claws would come out between his knuckles and his bones were bonded with an indestructible metal... a regenerating immortal-but he's more likely kill people. Um... Ironman was an inventive and slick playboy billionaire who would build these red and gold colored metal suits and fly around saving the day because his business partner sold weapons to bad people. Instead of keeping a secret identity, he flat out said he was Ironman."

"A playboy billionaire?" commented Strange, suggestively.

I uncrossed my legs and shook out my numb foot. "It helps him fund all his ideas. I suppose he's kinda like Olivia except she sent things out instead of flying around herself."

"You _know_ , don't you?" Strange asked, bemused.

"Hmm?" I asked innocently.

"Batman's identity."

I scoffed. "Well, if you need to ask _me_ , then quite frankly I am disappointed in your intelligence. I mean you if have caused us so much grief-"

Professor Strange cut in. "You're deflecting. Why?"

"Look, I... hold no grudges against him," I said flatly. "He's a good man... occasionally gets in my way, but I can work around it. His morals astound me... it's almost something I would like to aspire to, but realistically I know I can't. It's just not who I am, and I don't have that much hope or drive for humanity. We're such a destructive and cruel race by nature. Peace and unity are impossible for us unless we all joined together to fight something other than ourselves... So, I survive and play by my own rules."

"How did you discover his identity?" Professor Strange pressed.

"We hired out guys for that time we tried to kill the Joker gang," I explained. "He snuck in as one of those guys. Later, I noticed his facial hair was askew and peeled it off his face. Lo and behold... Then, Croc seemed to recognize him by scent while we were down in the sewers. Later, I kinda blackmailed him into working with me on finding the Mad Hatter when he took Lucy."

"Yes." He seemed to savor this information, but his eyes were distant. "Jervis mentioned how Batman stopped you from killing him. In fact, all he had to say was 'stop'."

Blinking, I remembered the battered and bloodied Mad Hatter. His blood was dripping from my hands. "I… didn't think Jervis was conscious enough to remember," I commented. "But Batman definitely _pulled_ me off of him. It wasn't just a simple 'stop'." I rubbed the corners of my eyes. "I was far too angry... It showed on Jervis when I found him in that hidden room in Medical. He was terrified of me."

"But why did you listen to Batman?" Strange asked. "Why not kill Jervis? He more than deserved it."

"I just felt compelled to listen... The way he called my name and sounded so concerned. Reminded me of my father I guess." I shrugged. "Plus, he has a pretty awesome voice. Have you heard it?"

"Yes, I have," Professor Strange said quietly.

I shrugged. "And have you ever had a dad or something like one? A mentor?"

"No."

"Hmm, well, you know how children see their favorite adult like a superhero? Just love the hell out of them-could do no wrong in their eyes?"

"Yes." He raised a brow at me.

"I think that's what sort of I see when it comes to Batman, but I'm very reserved about it and not as naive. He seems so perfect, but at the same time if you really knew him... why he does what he does?... It's really sad... His responsibility has consumed him. No matter what good comes to him all he'll have in the end is that cape and cowl because his vow comes first. He'll be pushing that rock uphill for the rest of his life, and he won't stop until he's dead."

"He spoke to you about a vow?"

"No, I assembled the pieces together on my own," I insisted. "He always leaves two roses in the alley where his parents died. He seems to want to do what he does, but at the same time you get the feeling he sees no other option. He never moved on from the grief and holds himself accountable. During the heist for that key to the city event he held, I looked at him while I was undercover-hell, he walked up to me even though I was just sound tech. He comes off all charismatic and stuff, working off people in the room, but if you pay attention, he withdraws… like he wishes he wasn't here being Bruce Wayne."

"You seem very… enamored with him," said Strange.

I chuckled. "Not romantically. In fact, I _pity_ anyone who falls in love with him and hopes for a happy ending." I shook my head. "Almost as bad as Harley Quinn wishing for a happy ending with the Joker if you ask me… But he never fails to fascinate."

"Indeed," said Professor Strange, staring past me.

 _Eyes turning green?_ "I've seen some heroes in fiction that can balance personal life and heroism, but others cannot. They have to choose between what they want and what the world needs. Batman is a self-sacrificer, a martyr."

"But is he what the world needs?"

I shrugged. "I'd say he's a good start for a long, hopeless battle, giving others inspiration to change things. Perhaps, he's inspired you?" I suggested.

Professor Strange blinked.

I chuckled. "Ohh what do I know? I'm losing everything to you right now. My partner, my way of life, my friends… maybe even my mind. I just know you're going to retaliate somehow. The people you hurt in the asylum clearly meant nothing to you… I wonder what you might try with an actual enemy…"

"Does that frighten you?"

I shrugged. "If I were younger, I'd be pissing myself but at this point… bring it on. I have lost the woman I love and can't bury her, one of my friends is terminally ill, another is a recovering amnesiac that got her face beat in by your guards, and I am back in prison in the hands of a narcissistic psychiatrist. What can _you_ do? Make our lives more difficult? Threaten to mind-rape or execute someone? Hand us off to our enemies to rip us to pieces and shatter our psyches? That's just another walk in hell." I sighed. "All I feel is tired and bitter. I expect my friends to die, one by one, maybe build my hope a little at the end and then take it away. Nothing good ever lasts."

"You and Miss Webber were in love?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Got a problem with that?" I growled.

Professor Strange smirked. "I do not. It's just contradictory to her psychological profile. She was a firm asexual."

"Asexual doesn't necessarily mean _aromantic_ ," I said, quoting Olivia. "And a relationship doesn't need to be sexual to work."

"Must've worked out well for both of you… with her disinterest and your rather… traumatic time with Dr. Giovanni."

I stared at him with raised brows. "Who told you about that? Most people on the legal side didn't believe us."

"Apparently you told Commissioner Gordon in a police car. A report was filed and there was an investigation not long after. Several female patients of Dr. Giovanni cried rape prior, but the stories were inconsistent and there was not enough evidence to hold up in court."

"Jeremiah Arkham also protected him," I added.

"I see," said Professor Strange. "Tell me what happened."

I sighed. "I suppose I don't have much choice…" I explained how the other patients warned me, how I attempted to intimidate him, how he took advantage while I was restrained, and how I patiently waited to exact revenge. "… and the rest is a blood-strewn crime scene."

"Who removed the limbs?"

"I did most of it. The head, the arms, one leg, and the rest they did themselves, sticking him like a pin-cushion... so he would feel the violation, humiliation, and pain we felt. I believe it was Chantal that cut off the genitals... Had the biggest grin on her face if you can imagine… And ever since I left, they've been calling me the goddess of vengeance."

"Have you killed anyone with such dedication since then?" Strange asked.

I shook my head. "No. At best, I almost beat Mad Hatter to death.

" _You monster!" Lucy screamed at Hatter._

" _You monster!" I shrieked at Giovanni._

I blinked. "Nothing else was as meaningful. Killing you was close, but it was rushed. I got nervous because so much was at stake. Olivia was pushing me so hard. It's better when you can just take your time. You know?"

"I see. How would you prefer to kill me?"

I scratched my chin. "I'd like to see you in a pool of your blood with all your plans collapsing around you… to see your joy and life drain from your eyes as you realize that this is it. All your hard work and sacrifices… all for nothing. The best part is I don't have to do anything except sit back and watch because I'm not only enemy you have."

"You're talking about the Batman?" Professor Strange asked, smirking.

"Don't make the same mistake everyone else does and think Batman's nothing compared to your _unparalleled_ genius." I made an evil chuckle and stroked my non-existent beard. "No, that is the worst-the most common mistake people make with Batman. He's the world's greatest detective and a symbol of justice… respect that he's one of the most formidable enemies you could ever have and prepare for the worst. Take some notes from Batman's worst enemy the Joker."

Strange frowned. "How do you mean? The Joker always ends up losing."

"Does he?" I asked. "Does he really? He leads Batman in with a joke and nails him with an unexpected punchline. He stole a Robin. He paralyzed Barbara Gordon. He's murdered thousands of people. With the way Joker plays, you will lose even if you win the game. It's not like the Riddler where if you win he just whines about you being a cheater."

"You seem to know a lot about this subject."

"I've drawn parallels to comics I knew to the observations I've made while living here," I said with a shrug. "The main difference is that it's consistently bleak in Gotham…"

"So, how does one win by your conclusion?" Strange asked.

"Expect to lose," I said with a shrug, "because there's no way in hell that you're actually going to win." I scoffed. "You never win big. You win and lose bit by bit."

"What about that mysterious book in Argentina? The one worth 500 million?"

I shook my head. "Money doesn't count. It can come and go in a flash."

"Your little friend mentioned that Deathstroke came after the book as well," Strange mentioned.

"Mm-hmm." I nodded, pursing my lips a bit.

"Am I to understand that _you_ outsmarted him?"

I shrugged and chuckled uncomfortably. "Welllll… I'm pretty sure I was really really lucky on that one." I shook my head. "I am an amateur compared to Deathstroke."

"What happened?"

"The improbable." I chuckled and covered mouth as tears ran out of my eyes. "Oh my God…"

"Tell me what happened," he commanded.

I sighed. "Well, he caught up with me and I was keeping up decently in regards to fighting… but I was clearly outmatched. Eventually, he had me pinned and he went to take my bag. I touched the bottom of the bag, not giving up, and the book fell through the bag like the canvas suddenly didn't exist anymore. It fell open on my chest and blasted him right in the face!" I giggled behind my hands. "It threw him like 50 feet back and he was knocked the fuck out!" I laughed and wiped my eyes.

Professor Strange frowned. "The book was magic?"

I nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Whom did you give it to?"

"Some English lady I met with in Australia. She quadrupled my pay after I told her what happened."

"You received 2 billion for that job?" He commented.

"Right?!" I exclaimed. "Gave us enough funds for Draco Ex Machina and everything else we wanted to do."

"What was this woman's name?"

"She didn't tell me her name," I replied, shaking my head. "She just said that she was the… um…" I tried to remember what she called herself. "The collector… the appropriator… the… something along those lines. Ugh, this is gonna bug me all day… it's museum related."

"Curator?"

"Yes!" I snapped my fingers. "The curator, but we met in a house in a small town… Olivia couldn't stand secrets—but this woman is smoke to us. People know about her curating hobby that pays extremely well, but no one can put a finger on her." _Probably could if I remembered that soldier's name… or call up the book like Hocus Pocus. "Boooooooooooook."_

"Did she know anything about the book?" Professor Strange asked.

"Well, she mentioned it does have a history for blasting people with bad intentions. The Nazis added it to their occult collection during World War II. Otherwise, no one can read it. In all my travels, I've never seen anything like it and neither has she."

Professor Strange frowned. "What do you mean by bad intentions? What made Deathstroke's intentions worse than yours? Both of you were out for profit."

I shrugged. "Sometimes I just accept that there are things in life that I will never understand. You're like-you think there's always an answer for everything." I shook my head. "Some things just are."

"You mentioned that a friend was dying. Who?"

"The one-eyed fellow that got caught at the airport. He's got Fatal Familial Insomnia."

"How unfortunate," said Strange. "Where do you know him from?"

"He's a retired member of the gang, supposed to be long gone, but he came back," I said regretfully.

"Why?"

"The insomnia is making him lose his mind, obviously."

"A man went straight for him while he was wandering around Park Row," said Strange, "navigating him back towards Mt. Olympus where they now gather with others."

"Jimmy," I said, remembering Tim's American persona from Montana. "He was supposed to be taking care of Mark."

"Now they're well-fortified in a condemned building—a condemned district even."

"We purchased the building ahead of time and laid in a weapons cache, so what?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "Olivia's paranoia went up after you slipped under her radar, and we had the money. We're also lucky that building isn't completely underwater." I sighed. "What the hell happened underground anyway? Don't tell me it was just an earthquake."

Professor Strange shrugged. "Just accept there are some things in life that you will never understand."

"Wow." I shook my head, folding my arms. "I wish you were dead already."

He chuckled. "What will you do when you lose everything? Will you try to kill yourself again?"

"Maybe… for kicks," I said with a shrug. "My plans tend to fuck up… like fate doesn't want me to die yet… like I haven't experienced enough pain and humiliation… Fate seems to look at _you_ the same way, too."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Your survival of the assassination attempts. She must have something else in store."

"I predict the dawn of a new age," commented Professor Strange.

I snorted. "Optimist."

"I have always been a realist," he insisted.

"No you haven't."

"Because you think me an optimist now?"

"Not necessarily," I said, toying with his curiosity. "Tell me this, first. Will you let Lucy go?"

"I suppose I will. I'll even let her know about your secret base at Mt. Olympus since you have complied thus far." Professor Strange picked up a radio and relayed that to a captain.

 _That doesn't guarantee she won't be caught along the way… especially when the release point is in the fucking Bowery where the Penguin is… I expected no less, Asshole._

"So what did you mean earlier?" Strange asked, continuing the conversation.

"Optimism? Everyone is optimistic when they are a child," I explained. "They have hopes and dreams. How long before they're shattered is another matter."

"Interesting. What shattered your innocence?"

I sighed, considering. "My parents' divorce and then them moving in with people I didn't like. All downhill from there. Decided to snuff it in my twenties."

"You're almost 29 now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm a Baby-Face," I said, touching my face briefly. "I don't have a beard to hide behind." I narrowed my eyes at him.

Professor Strange frowned and raised a brow at me. "You can clearly see the rest of my face. My beard only outlines my chin."

"Is it because Bruce Wayne has a really strong chin?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed. "No. I've always done it this way."

"You didn't have an afro in the 70's?" I asked.

"Do I look I had an afro in the 70's?" He replied.

"Well not with that attitude." Frowning, I looked at his bald head.

 _Mr. Clean. Mr. Clean._

 _Shhhhhh! Hahahahaha._ I struggled to keep my expression in check.

"You think you're funny?" Professor Strange asked.

"Sometimes," I said with a shrug, rubbing my eyes and sniffing.

"What did Olivia see in you? What could you possibly offer her that she didn't have?"

"Someone she could trust and depend on?" I suggested. "Someone who could understand her and love her for who she is in spite of her faults. Someone who could make her laugh and hold her if she cries. Someone who needs her and challenges her. Someone she could understand and love in return in spite of their faults… I don't expect some mean, old man like you would understand what that's like and to know you'll never have anything like that again."

"I see." He stood up, impatient. "You will be released into Arkham City momentarily. I will call upon you if I require anything else." Professor Strange exited the room without another word.

I frowned after him and waited for the guards to enter the room, but it took them about five minutes. Eight guards entered didn't have any guns on them, just clubs and stun batons.

… _I'm guessing they don't want to play baseball._

I stood up. The guard rushed over to me, beating me with the clubs and stun batons into a corner. After they beat me down to the ground, a couple of them dragged me out while I was coughing up blood, barely conscious.

"Jesus, that took longer than usual, didn't it?" One commented.

"The crazies need some extra TLC." One kicked me in the face, and I blacked out.

Suddenly, my stomach really hurt and I opened my eyes to see a guy with a clown mask kicking me.

 _Motherfucker handed me off to the Joker._

"Wake up, you little bitch!" The man shouted.

I caught his foot this time and twisted his leg. Quickly, I got up and saw I was surrounded by clown thugs while standing in an arena-like area.

In the other corner was a really tall and muscular clown wielding a sledgehammer with his one arm. I immediately recognized him as Mr. Hammer. He used to be conjoined with his twin in a freak show. Together they were the Abramovici twins. Now, it's Mr. Hammer and Sickle, but Sickle was working for Penguin and Mr. Hammer was working for Joker.

"Glad to see you're awake, Kid," said Harley Quinn from the upper office. She blew me a kiss. "We heard you participated in Penguin's fights before you sunk his ship, so we figure you and Mr. Hammer could entertain the boys a bit before he smashes your skull in!"

The clown thugs cheered.

"Have fun!" She waved and closed up the office.

The others cheered on Mr. Hammer as he dragged his sledgehammer towards me. I held up a hand. "One final request, Mr. Hammer?" I shouted over the chanting.

He raised a brow and paused.

"I'm obviously going to lose so can you aim for my forehead?" I lied down in front of him and rested my hands on my abdomen.

The men booed

He frowned and shrugged.

I sighed and gazed up at him.

Mr. Hammer raised his sledgehammer high and brought it down to my forehead. The head of the hammer bounced right off my head and smacked him in the head. Groaning, he fell backwards, dazed.

Everyone was dead silent.

Sighing, I stood back up, holding my head in pain. "Shit, Man," I said, taking the sledgehammer from Mr. Hammer.

The doors opened upstairs. "What the hell was that?!" Harley Quinn shouted.

"I'm special," I said, stepping back a little. "I have a message for your boyfriend." I started swinging the sledgehammer around and threw it up towards the office. The sledgehammer crashed throw one of the windows of the upstairs office. I was extremely dizzy after that and struggled to maintain balance. Blinking, I looked at the sea of colors around the room. "'This used to be a funhouse, but now it's full of evil clowns,'" I sung. I flopped on top of a body that I assumed was Mr. Hammer.

He grunted, still out of it himself.

I waved my arms a bit hearing the music in my head. _God, I miss P!nk._ I let out a long groan of exasperation and pain as I held my agonized skull. Then, I pushed myself up and tried to steady my balance. My pain was even worse whilst standing, but I had to get out of here.

"Shoot her!" Harley shouted.

All the thugs started shooting me, some of them occasionally hitting each other. I remained standing even after they ran out of bullets. I coughed up a bullet and more started clinking on the ground as my flesh grew back.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" A few of them shouted.

I looked around, dazed that I was still standing. My vision was quite blurry. "I am fire! I am death!" I pointed up the ceiling and a hanging thing fell on some thugs, likely from all the misguided gunfire.

 _Wow..._

They all got back and ducked behind things in fear.

"So, Strange thinks he can pull a fast one on me, eh?" Joker asked from the office above. He hopped down. _Nope, real Joker's too sick. That's Clayface-Joker._ "Show me what you got, Fire and Death!"

"You smell like basil," I commented as he approached. "I'm tired and I want to leave, so stay out of my way." I looked around the area as my vision started improving. _I'll be damned if I can actually remember the way out._

"Sure, sure, which way are you going?" Joker asked with a giggle. "I'll try to stay out of it."

I tried to remember which pair of doors I was supposed to go through to get out.

"Aww, are you still disoriented? Do you even know where you are?"

"It's Sionis' Mill," I said, dizzily. "Industrial District."

"Wrong!" Joker hit me across the face with a crowbar. "It's Joker's Funland now!" He laughed crazily.

I spun a little and flopped on the floor with a groan.

"Oh, Mr. Hammer, good to see you up and at 'em. I think we found you a new hammer."

"Thanks," said Mr. Hammer with a thick Russian accent. He picked me up by my ankles and I groaned, realizing I was the new hammer.

"So, why did Strange send you?" Joker asked, looking at me upside down.

"I almost assassinated him and asked him if he had an afro in the 70's," I said as blood dripped from my nose.

Joker giggled. "Ooh really? Mr. Hammer, make sure she's an honest hammer."

Mr. Hammer chuckled darkly and swung me up before slamming me facedown into the ground. He slammed me on the ground back and forth several times before stopping.

I spat out blood as my face swelled. "It's the fucking truth! Ask him yourself, Basil!"

"Mr. Hammer. I think you hit her head too hard. Try an arm."

"My bones don't break," I said before Mr. Hammer dropped me.

He took ahold of my arm and couldn't break my bones.

"Guess you are an honest hammer." Joker grabbed me by the front of my jumpsuit. "Who would hire you to kill Strange?"

"Me," I sneered. "To get my friends out of prison… but he survived and now he's got a grudge. Tried to bail, but he's like 'get back here, I still have your friends'. Sent a few pictures. And in response I sent the heads of the messengers as an RSVP, turned myself in, went through the psych exam and he's like okay, releasing you into Arkham City. Then, those guards walk in with clubs like I'm a baby seal."

Joker laughed. "Aw, poor baby. Does he not know what you can do?"

I shrugged. "Assumed he did if he dropped me here, probably figured you'd drive me crazy. Otherwise, it's more of that divide and conquer shit. Cuz if we're all too busy pummeling each other, then none of us tries to escape or figure out what he's up to, see?"

"She's got a point, Puddin'," said Harley Quinn, leaning in the doorway upstairs.

"What do you think he's up to, Sweetheart?" Joker asked.

"I think he's going to kill everyone and he's gonna make it look legal," I said flat-out.

The thug muttered amongst themselves.

"All this trouble just to snuff us out?" Joker asked, dropping me on the ground.

"Look who's talking?" I retorted, trying to slink away from Mr. Hammer. Mr. Hammer yanked me up by the back of my jumpsuit, holding me there.

"You liking your new hammer, Mr. Hammer?"

"Nyet," said Mr. Hammer. "Squirm too much."

"Well that's no good. Let's discuss some other positions upstairs, Storm. In the meantime, be a dear and fetch Mr. Hammer his old hammer."

Mr. Hammer threw me upstairs through a different window. I landed on the floor with a thump as blood ran out from all the glass cuts. Groaning, I struggled to get up and refocus my vision again. Slumping back to a sitting position, I yanked out a piece of glass stuck in my eye. I couldn't really feel pain anymore, just the gross-out factor of ripping your own eye out. A piece of glass was stuck in my neck, too. I pulled that out along with anything else that was taking too long in my opinion.

Mr. Hammer walked up to pick up something next to me. Softly, he prodded me with the head of a sledgehammer.

Somewhat blind, I stumbled over to the direction where he prodded me. "I don't work for clowns," I said, bitterly.

I heard the real Joker coughing dryly, he sounded like he was sitting ahead of me somewhere. "Oh you ought to keep an open mind," Joker said hoarsely. "You can either play a game or get tossed in the incinerator. I hope you'll reconsider because I think you really made an impact on Mr. Hammer. You can see it clear in his face." He laughed and broke out into coughs.

 _Stall… Wait for you vision to come back and just go through the fucking window._

"The fact of the matter is you're right. We should be working together in this tight little situation," said Joker. "Let bygones be bygones. I could really use someone like you, and you need a break from someone beating you to a pulp."

I folded my arms, mistrusting this. "Yeah?"

"You see—"

My vision returned and I crashed through the window, shielding my eyes this time. I fell about twenty feet down onto an adjacent roof in a tumble. I ran for it, from rooftop to rooftop, and glanced back to see Mr. Hammer jumping down after me. He ended up crashing through a thin area of the rooftop inside the actual building.

 _Damn..._

I heard the intercom click on. "I think we hit your head too hard because apparently you think it's okay to crash out a window mid-conversation!" Joker shouted. "Boys, a lady in a blood orange outfit with dark hair and a nice rack is quite lost. Could you help directing her back to the mill? Someone's going in the incinerator tonight."

Thugs and snipers immediately noticed and started shooting at me. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to keep running over to the cranes that connected over the Amusement Mile.

I was met with a ton more thugs. Doubling back, I ran over to the hole in the ground that went into the sewers under the central facility of Arkham City. It connected to the Bowery where Penguin was. Better than a place that was completely on red alert about my presence.

Jumping inside the hole, I landed in a tumble and darted through the tunnels. I knew risked running into Killer Croc down here. Breathing heavy, I silently hoped that I could slip by him, and he would deter anyone that pursued me. Thugs were hot on my tail as my speed wavered with the shit shape my body was in from the injuries. My blood trail didn't thin with the occasional shots they took at me. I think was about halfway there when one of the thugs took me down in a tackle.

"Got you, you little bitch!" He growled in my ear.

I struggled to get out from under him and was quickly surrounded by more. They picked me up and slammed against the wall.

"Ain't so tough now? Are you, Freak?" One of them said.

"I'm not, but _he_ is," I said nodding behind them.

They all looked back, horrified. Nothing was there.

"Made you look," I said, chuckling weakly.

"I'm gonna kill her," said one of them, putting a knife to my neck.

"You can't kill her," one of the thugs said. "She's one of those self-healing freaks."

"Oh yeah? Heal this!" The guy slit my throat. Blood spurted all over him and I did my best to not breathe until my neck closed up.

"That is fucked up," commented one of the guys as they watched the wound close.

"Let's get out of here before that Croc shows up. Boss wants her back."

They grabbed my arms and dragged me back the way we came.

Suddenly, they froze in their tracks, when I looked up I saw Croc was standing in front of us.

Immediately, one of them threw me in front of them. "Hey, we thought you'd like a nice chew toy or a freaky, little girlfriend."

Croc growled down at me as I looked back up at him.

Blood spurted out of my mouth and I coughed to the side.

With a grunt, Killer Croc stepped over me and grabbed one of the thugs, biting his head off with ease. The rest ran past him for their lives towards the Industrial District.

I groaned and started heading on towards the Bowery, limping along. Didn't get far before I was lifted up by my jumpsuit.

"I told you to never come down here again," Croc growled, chewing on that one guy.

"I obviously had no other choice," I retorted. "Now let me pass, please. More will probably come looking for me."

"What do they want you for?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I am returning to my friends and taking a long nap. Seriously, just tell me what you want. Cigarettes, alcohol, air freshener, I don't know. I'm sure you need something that I could get for you."

Croc considered for a moment. "Why should I believe you? You could run out and never come back."

"I'm a thief of my word," I insisted.

"Then why did the Penguin keep bitchin' about your people cheating him?"

"Because the Penguin is a hypocritical bitch that cheated us first." I folded my arms. "And as far as I'm concerned you and I are square unless you want something. I don't care if it's a poster or Penguin's private stash of scotch that he keeps in his desk. Just tell me."

Croc puzzled over this for a moment and seemed to remember something. "There's an area ahead that I can't squeeze through, but there's a button. They always use it to play chicken with me."

"Okay, I could probably handle that," I said.

"Good." He continued munching on that one thug and carried me under his arm. Croc carried me along for a good while and he hefted me over his shoulder as the water got deeper. He left the half-eaten corpse floating on the surface and started swimming while I hung on to his shoulders. When we reached a set of bars, he set me up on the walkway. I approached the bars and looked around for the button. There were male voices somewhere ahead, but I couldn't understand what was being said.

I squeezed my way through the bars and approached the buttons on a wall. There was auto, close, open. I pressed "open" and waved Croc over.

He slowly approached with dripping footsteps, probably hearing the voices, too.

"Pull this out of the wall," I said quietly.

Killer Croc took ahold of the box and ripped it out of the wall, exposing the live wires behind it. Then, he threw the box into the water and it sunk. I motioned him back into the water and used my foot like a squeegee to hide his watery footprints on the floor. All they would be able to tell was that the floor was wet.

I climbed over to a ledge by the steps as I heard footsteps coming closer.

Killer Croc kept his eyes above the water as I swam behind a pillar.

"Why the hell are the bars up?" I heard one of the penguin thugs asked.

"Someone probably left it in Chicken mode," said the second.

"Yeah? Then where are all the buttons?"

"…That's not good."

"No shit, Sherlock. We better report it."

"I'm gettin out of here. That thing might be waiting for something to get too close."

Killer Croc got out of the water and they screamed and cursed with fear.

I listened for anyone else coming. Satisfied, I stepped onto the steps and saw Croc bite out a guy's throat after taking a hold of him. The other was under Croc's foot, squirming before his skull was crushed with a loud crunch. Blood and brain matter gushed out from under Croc's foot.

 _Yeesh._ I winced a little and walked past him. "See ya'."

Killer Croc didn't reply. I just heard him munching away, and he was probably watching me leave.

 _Don't look back._ I sighed and navigated myself around the subway system that was crawling with Penguin thugs. I carefully snuck around them and occasionally knocked one out if they were in my way. One of them had a big and black overcoat. I decided to put it on to hide the bright jumpsuit covered in blood. Couldn't find anyone with shoes in my size unfortunately. I did find plenty of guns and knives, though.

 _There just has to be a men's seven or eight around here somewhere._

I reached the surface and kept my head down as I walked through dark alleys with a machine gun, hoping my coat was enough to convince Penguin thugs at a glance. My feet were tensed up on the cold ground. I was careful to not step on something painful.

"Hey! You!" One of them shouted as I passed by Ace Chemicals.

I continued walking around a corner as if I didn't hear.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, Lady!"

I darted ahead and leapt over a fence. They came running after me and I headed towards the Solomon Wayne Courthouse where the Two-Face gang was holed up. Two-Face was speaking to his thugs at the steps of the courthouse when I came running along.

The thugs pulled out their guns and I ducked down on the ground as bullets flew by from the Penguin thugs and Two-Face thugs. Panting, I crawled between two cars as the group of Penguin thugs were overwhelmed by the numbers of the Two-Face gang.

I heard running footsteps and Two-Face thugs quickly surrounded me as I struggled to catch my breath.

"Up and at 'em, Girlie," one of them said.

I struggled to my feet, shaking a little from the adrenaline.

"Damn, you stink."

"I've been running around all night in a prison not a perfume commercial," I said, rolling my eyes as they escorted me over to the courthouse.

Harvey "Two-Face" Dent stood at the steps in his half-burnt business suit, flipping his lucky coin. His face matched his suit in being half-burnt on his left side. Formerly a good district attorney, he was driven mad by his second personality that contained all his inner rage that was driven out by the criminals that tried to squeeze him back. One of them dumped acid on his face, further damaging his psyche. Now, true justice could be determined by a single flip of his lucky coin: two heads, one damaged side.

"You're Meredith Storm," Two-Face commented with his regular voice. "Drifter thief," his grisly voice added.

"Yeah, I was just headed over to the Amusement Mile," I said with a shrug. "Didn't mean to interrupt your company meeting. I'll be going if you would be so kind."

"Let's see what Fate has in store today." Two-Face flipped his coin and looked. "You're lucky. Go."

I nodded to him and left. I walked past the church and onto the highway that went over the flooded area of the Amusement Mile. Several buildings stuck out from the water. Mt. Olympus was dead ahead with its neon sign lit like a beacon.

I took note of the snipers at the top. A few were even on the radio tower next door. Suddenly, a grappling hook attached itself to the edge of the highway and Tim came flying over to land on the pavement beside me.

With a grunt, Tim stood up and took ahold of me, launching us to the rooftop of Mt. Olympus. There, he warmly embraced me. The gunmen on the roof watched us for a bit.

"Meredith, we heard horrible things," said Tim, touching my face. He had a silver beard, but I knew his bald head and green eyes.

"Eh, just an interrogation and a wild goose chase," I said, "but it's Lucy we have to worry about."

"Yes, her parents told us."

I frowned. "Her parents?"

A door opened and Mark came running out to hug me, sporting a beard of his own. There were dark shadows under his eyes. The top of his head was wrapped in gauze. "Oh, you poor thing," said Mark squeezing me tightly. "If it weren't for my eye, I would've thought you were another recruit nearly beaten to death. What did they do to you?!"

"Long story," I explained, "but Tim, what do you mean Lucy's parents told you?"

"They're here, Mere," Mark explained, letting me go. His robotic eye focused on me while his natural eye was covered up. "They wouldn't let the authorities take their little girl, but they got separated during processing. Did they get Olivia, too?"

"She hasn't been responding to the radio frequency," said Tim. "Robots keep saying she isn't available."

I shook my head. "She didn't make it."

"No," Mark murmured. "It can't be. What happened?"

"I'll tell you, but do you have water, food, smoking supplies? I'm about to drop."

"Nah, we got you. Still plenty of supplies." Mark walked me through the rooftop door. There were a couple floors of snipers and one floor had several beds laid out, along with couches and supplies. "These upper floors are dedicated to the snipers," Mark explained. "I'm usually up here because sniping is about all I'm good for these days. Then, we got supply floors, a kitchen floor, individual rooms as we get closer to water level where we have a hidden entrance that connects to a cool underwater bridge." He stopped us at a middle floor. "This is a meeting room and where Tim sleeps and makes coffee because he's the hotshot."

"Mostly by seniority," Tim explained as I gazed around the floor.

The windows were intact and the framework was pretty. There was an elegant meeting table in the middle and many pillows on the floor. There were piles of 20 lb. bags of coffee grinds and vats. Tim led us through a door that was an office suite with a desk and a couch. His drawings were on the walls, along with a map of Arkham City, a list of problems, troublemaking recruits…

"Hey, you've earned it," I said. "I bet you're doing a great job."

"That's up for debate some days," commented Tim wryly, leaning against the desk.

"Well, if people don't like it, they can take their opinion and shove it," said Mark, sitting me down. "This place is ours. They're just squatting here."

"Where's Lucy's parents?" I asked.

"Probably drilling new recruits," said Tim. "Some of them don't even know how to throw a punch or shoot. I keep telling them to train teachers so they don't have to worry about that in addition to kitchen duties."

"We all need lieutenants." Mark picked up his radio and stopped before speaking. He tossed the radio to Tim. "They don't listen to me anymore."

Tim frowned at this.

"Anyone outside the snipers doesn't listen to my calls," Mark explained.

"What did you want to call for?" Tim asked, confused.

"Meredith is wearing a jumpsuit covered in blood and she's hungry."

"OH!" Tim immediately called up on the radio. "Hotshot calling. I need some rations and a blue jumpsuit on coffee floor. Meredith Storm has joined D.A.M."

"Dam?" I asked.

"Drifters of Amusement Mile," said Tim, tossing the radio back to Mark.

Mark caught it and hooked it onto his belt.

I lied down on the couch as the fatigue set into me, explaining everything of the last couple of weeks.

Someone walked in with a box and a bowl of food. It was a pretty buff Latino guy with a pretty face and rings in his ears. His dark hair was in a ponytail. "I know you asked for the blue jumpsuit, but those things are _not_ comfy," he said as we stopped and looked at him. "And there was an actual box labeled 'Meredith' that's just been sitting around." He set the box next to me.

"Thanks," I said.

"Yes, thank you… I can't remember your name," said Tim.

"Newt," said the guy.

" _Newt_?" Mark repeated, skeptically.

"Yeah, we drifting out here and I'm a new and fabulous little amphibian." He brushed dust off his arms.

"What are you in for, Newt?"

"Graphic design," said Newt. "Basically, all those propaganda posters you see out there along with the logos and stuff."

Mark squinted at him. "He threw you in prison for those?"

"They look wonderful," Tim commented, also confused.

"Aw thank you, Hotshot," said Newt. "As far I know, anyone that worked on the inside and wasn't a TYGER guard gets thrown in with all the crazies, heathens, and you people. A couple of accountants, engineers, and other little guys are running around, too. My buddy Nick was an accountant. I don't know why. I mean it wasn't like he was unwilling to pay us. I mean I missed a few parking tickets…"

"He's tying up loose ends," I said flat-out.

"But we didn't see anything," said Newt. "Seemed everything was in order. He wanted to intimidate prisoners and engrain the rules from my point of view. Nick might know something, but I'm just a graphic designer."

"People get thrown in here for less," I said, shaking my head. "Protesters… innocent doctors… crazies… I'm sure anyone who definitely knew anything got lobotomized."

Newt's eyes widened. "Are… you for real right now?"

"I wish I wasn't."

"Ugh…" He grimaced. "Strange, my ass… Professor Hugo Freaky."

"Would you guys give me a second alone, please?" I asked.

"Absolutely," said Tim and Mark simultaneously, stepping out.

"Totally." Newt nodded and closed the door behind them, leaving me alone.

I changed out of my gross jumpsuit and threw it out the window. The box contained three different sets of clothing, my armor, boots, two coats, a grapple-gun, a pipe, and a bag of Olivia's smoke mix. I put on the clothes and boots for now and set the pipe to the side. When I was done, I opened the door to see Newt still talking with Mark and Tim.

"…Yeah, I was just wondering because the snipers keep complaining about the shrinking ammo," said Newt. He looked at me. "Oh Honey, you look so much better, except for all the blood in your hair."

"Oh," I said, touching my hair.

"Yeah, I sometimes forget until I go to comb mine. Also, you can just tell that jumpsuit to 'go fuck itself', because that is a lot of blood and I-don't-know-what-but-I-don't-care."

"Threw it out the window," I said with a shrug, feeling the matting in my long hair. Most of it was in the long part of my hair. I pulled out a knife, gathered up my hair into a tail and cut the tail off.

Newt blinked and touched his ponytail.

Ignoring him, I threw my hair out the window. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Making a supply run this week," said Tim. "The Penguin has the most supplies and there are about thirty willing men that need to be led."

"Maybe we could hit all the birds in one throw," I said with a smirk.

"I was hoping so. Will you be ready to go out there again?"

"Hell yeah. I just need a day or two to recover." I sat down and started eating the food that was some sort of stew or soup.

"I don't know how you can even function," said Mark. "After all you've been through."

I shrugged. "Guess I'm used to it by now. Where do I rest?"

"Ah…" Tim considered uncomfortably. "You rest here for now until I can make proper accommodation. The couch is also pull-out bed."

"Well, I don't mean to take over your space."

"I know, but it for best," Tim insisted.

"Where are _you_ going to sleep, Hotshot?" I asked.

"I'll figure it out. You are my guest, my friend, and the most renowned criminals in this building."

I frowned. "That's kinda sad."

"Not really," said Newt. "I mean you're not big like the Joker but you're also not just some murderer or petty thief. You are a _psychotic_ murderer and thief that has been on the news a couple times. I heard you threatened and used the Gotham Nightliner to get close enough to put Hugo Freaky in the hospital."

"Yeah, I meant to kill him," I said, shaking my head.

"Well that's closer than anyone else in this dump." Newt sighed. "You are a _legend_ , Girlfriend."

"Uh, thanks, Newt."

"My pleasure."

"What do you do right now, Newt?" Tim asked.

"Me? Oh I work ration distribution, but in my off-time I like to do little things to spruce up the place."

"Yeah, thanks. You can probably go back to that now," said Mark.

"One more thing though?" Newt asked me. "You seem to have an idea what's going on with that professor's head."

"Kind of. What?" I asked drinking my soup.

"What kind of polish does he use for that big noggin' of his?"

I spat out my soup and giggled, covering my face.

"Is it like the tears of small children…?"

My laughter did not stop and I bowed my head holding my sides.

Mark and Tim chuckled, confused.

"Or is it TYGER guards jerking off-"

I wheezed and coughed. "No, no, no," I said shaking my head and covering my watery eyes. "Oh God no, stop, stop!" I leaned back holding my stomach.

Newt giggled behind his hand. "I did not expect you to laugh that hard!"

"I'm never going to be able to talk to with him with a straight face again," I said, trying to stop laughing.

"Well, you don't talk past the first interview, correct?" Tim asked.

I coughed. "He might want to talk to me later maybe." I snickered, still a little delirious. "Dude… just no."

"Still a giggle machine," said Mark, shaking his head.

"We'll give you some time to rest," said Tim.

"Thanks," I said with a sigh.

"Nice meeting you," said Newt with a wave.

They closed the door and left me alone again. I lied across the couch, exhausted and occasionally giggling.

When I awoke again, I saw an ARACHMECH crawling closer on a wall next to me, beeping. Incoming call from SONNY," the ARACHMECH announced.

"Answer," I said.

"Hello, Meredith," said SONNY in a slight monotone. "Why have you disobeyed the protocol?"

"Because Professor Strange found me and threatened to kill Angel Smith if I didn't come back, SONNY. I had to come back."

"In very brutish fashion."

"Please don't tell me you just called to complain about me breaking protocol because I don't want to hear it, SONNY."

"My purpose is to execute Advocate's wishes," said SONNY. "She wished for you to be kept safe from the troubles of Arkham City."

"Well not everything went according to her plans, SONNY. Life is cruel and unexpected."

"I imagine so with the chaos that seems to happen out there. Logically, it would've seemed best for you to stay with us, but Advocate thought otherwise."

"Well, her head did get crushed," I said, folding my arms.

"Yes. The ARACHMECH scans tell me that you are physically healthy despite detections of blood, but psychological pain can appear to be invisible. How is your psychological condition?"

"Depressed but functioning."

"How would you rate your depression on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 feeling suicidal and 10 feeling happy?" SONNY continued.

"5, but I might drop to a 4," I said honestly.

"What are your future intentions?"

"Enjoy the little things, help my friends survive Arkham City, Mission: Bat-Crazy, and after that, I don't know."

"I also wished to question Mission: Bat-Crazy," said SONNY.

I rolled my eyes. "What about it?"

"You have programmed several ARACHMECHS to deliver strips of paper decorated with black vermilion to Professor Hugo Strange's office desk in Arkham City. Prior plans indicated that Advocate and yourself wished to terminate this man's life. Why has this goal been reduced to non-lethal mercury poisoning?"

I raised a brow at the ARACHMECH, surprised and mildly annoyed by the question. I tried to word my answer in a way SONNY could understand. "The fact of the matter is that Professor Strange's termination has been set at a future date. We cannot terminate him early because some things in life are specifically programmed. We call it Fate."

"By what system can life be programmed?" SONNY asked.

"No one really knows, but I might've come from the alternate universe that programmed this universe. I couldn't change things if I went back there. It's not the sort of thing that people would like to change. It's like changing a story you've known for a long time. Like do you know the "Hansel and Gretel" story?"

"One moment, please… I have now added the story to my cloud memory."

"Okay," I said, continuing. "The point is you can't just go back and change that story. I mean you can create an alternate version but you can't actually force that story to change into something else. In that version, the witch will always be pushed into the oven."

"Point understood," confirmed SONNY. "When will Professor Strange die?"

"The night Bruce Wayne is taken into Arkham City."

"Very well, but why do you poison the professor, attempting to make him ill and madden him with mercury poisoning?"

"Poetic justice and non-lethal revenge until he meets his unfortunate end."

SONNY was quiet for a moment. "Is it because mercury poisoning is sometimes nicknamed "Mad Hatter Disease"? And he used the Mad Hatter to experiment on inmates at the now closed Arkham Asylum?"

"Yes," I said, surprised.

"Poetic justice indeed, but he will be inclined to punish you when he finds out you are behind it. It would be in your best interest to minimize the risk of further damage in your declining psychological health."

"Have the first slips been delivered?" I asked.

"Yes. It may be best if you discontinue the mission to avoid discovery."

"The mission will continue according to schedule," I insisted. "I know you're concerned about Olivia's wishes because she developed you, but I have my own wishes to fulfill. He's ruined lives, ripped apart minds, and is part of the reason Olivia is no longer alive. He is selfish, sadistic, and deserves a taste of his own medicine, SONNY. This is the only way I can cope with my 'declining psychological health'."

"This is self-destructive behavior that will only lead to more suffering, but if that is what you wish?"

"It is."

"Confirmed. Mission: Bat-Crazy will continue on schedule… Perhaps some containers of liquid mercury to escalate poisoning via inhalation?"

"Nice," I said with a nod. "Let's aim for New Year's Day on that one."

"Very well. Anything else I should place on my agenda?"

"Is there data on my travels in Brazil?" I asked.

"Regarding the stop before or after the heist for the Martian's Book of H'ronmeer?" SONNY asked.

"Before."

"Searching… data found, what are you looking for?"

"A man was trying to get on my plane and insulted the RABBOT I was carrying at the time when I said no. The RABBOT sprayed him with a pink ink and knocked him out."

"Searching for incident… Incident found."

"Find out who that man is," I said. "He's on my naughty list. A few days ago he was arrested at an airport in London. He tried to take a little girl as a hostage but was arrested. He is an American."

"By naughty list, you wish to send him a lump of coal?" SONNY asked.

"I wish to send him something unpleasant for sure," I said, scratching my neck. "He snitched me out to Professor Strange."

"Advocate had a preference for sending nail bombs."

"Find out who he is first and I will make a decision. That is all."

"Very well. Ending call."

The ARACHMECH crawled down the wall and under the couch.

In the next several days, Tim, Roy, Helen, Mark, and myself began planning for the Bowery Heist using data the ARACHMECHs gathered. I was to negotiate a cease fire agreement with Two-Face because there wasn't a lot of reason for us to be shooting at each other in the first place and it would give us backup fire when we escape the Bowery. In a few days around 4 AM, we would make our move into the Bowery. Tim would lead the faction for stealing weapons. Helen would lead the group stealing food supplies. I would be rescuing Lucy from a display case in the north wing and drawing the attention of Penguin's gang. The others would stay behind to defend Olympus with Roy and Mark. I also planned to release Mr. Freeze from another display case in the south wing to add to my distraction.

Part of Strange's plan to divide and conquer was handing Mr. Freeze's cryogenically frozen wife Nora Fries to the Joker to blackmail Mr. Freeze into working on a cure for the Joker's illness. To delay Mr. Freeze's progress on said cure, Strange handed Mr. Freeze to the Penguin who was now likely to be armed with a freezing gun that could only be disabled by Mr. Freeze in his sub zero suit. Freeze's primary motivation was to save his wife from her terminal condition. Due to an "accident" caused by his boss at GothCorp's cryogenic lab, Dr. Victor Fries can now only survive in subzero temperatures. His suit maintained his required temperature and provided him with multiplied strength and defensive measures against his enemies.

I had always sympathized and admired Mr. Freeze's passion for his wife, and empathized all the more with Olivia gone.

I returned to Park Row to negotiate with Two-Face and was escorted into the courtroom where he was conducting some trial with a man hanging over a tank of a likely corrosive acid. "Please, Mr. Face, I didn't steal anything I swear!"

"Let's see what the coin says," Two-Face said before flipping his coin. "Guilty!"

The thugs cheered and the man was dumped into the acid with a final gut-wrenching scream.

Two-Face pointed me out. "You wish to tempt fate again?" He asked.

"I wish to negotiate a ceasefire between your gang and the Drifters of the Amusement Mile," I declared.

Hec flipped his coin. "We will hear this. Step forward."

Thugs stepped aside and I approached the front of the courtroom. Two-Face jumped down from the platform and two thugs put two seats together.

We sat down. He continued to flip his coin.

"Unlike the other gangs, we have no reason to hate each other," I started. "You might be looking to take over Arkham City, but we don't care. We just like to be left alone. It would be nice if both our gangs maintained neutrality. You want to strike the Industrial District without our snipers aiming at you. If we want to raid the Bowery, it would be nice if you didn't shoot at us. In fact, maybe we could give each other cover fire, giving ourselves an advantage over the Joker and Penguin while they squabble amongst themselves. We don't shoot or otherwise hurt each other."

"So are we to understand you'll be hitting Penguin?" Two-Face asked.

"Depends on if you agree to the ceasefire."

Two-Face put his coin on his hand and it was the good side. "We agree with ceasefire." He held out his hand.

"Great." I shook his hand firmly.

He pulled me in closer at the end of the shake. "But if you Drifters cheat us, we'll blow your brains out."

"Touché," I said.

He snorted and let me go. "So, are you hitting the Penguin or not?"

"A little hitting, but mostly a rescue mission," I said. "He's taken one of our friends prisoner, Angel Smith."

"We remember her," said Two-Face with his normal voice. "Rough kid. Repeat offender. Her rock star career made her into a better person until the Joker showed up. Then, it was back to basics."

I nodded. "She tried to quit and leave, but the TYGERs dragged her back to throw her to the Penguin, and lure me back into town."

"Can't escape your past," he said with his grisly voice.

"Nope."

Two-Face stood up from his chair. "From here on out, we are neutral to the Drifters of the Amusement Mile and they are neutral to us. Do not shoot at them. Do not approach them. And they will do the same, otherwise, it is war. Yay or nay understood?"

"YAY!" The thugs said.

"Spread the word!"

I picked up my radio. "Attention Hotshot and all Drifters, the ceasefire negotiation with the Two-Face gang has been successful," I reported. "I repeat, successful negotiation with Two-Face gang."

"Hotshot says thank you, Meredith," replied Tim.

"Hotshot?" Two-Face questioned.

"He's the head of the place and he brews the coffee."

"Wait a minute, you guys have _coffee_?!" One of the thugs called out.

I shrugged. "Yeah..." _Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that._

The guy stumbled forward. "Mr. Face, I move we negotiate for coffee!"

"I second that!" Another guy shouted.

Several other thugs held up their hands and motioned for coffee.

Two-Face fired his gun into the air. "Quiet!" He shouted. "We actually miss coffee, too," he said. He flipped his coin in the air and it was the bad side. "We'll have to wait longer."

"Aww," groaned the thugs.

I kind of felt bad for them. _Then, again, Tim's coffee was a bit addictive. They'd probably steal all the bags._

"Well, how about some cigarettes and booze?" I suggested. "Penguin's getting a huge shipment and we only have so many people to grab stuff. Our way of saying, Merry Christmas," I said with a nod. "We would just need to borrow some of your guys to move it."

Two-Face flipped his coin. Good side. "How many?"

"Let me double check," I said, picking up my radio. "Calling for Hotshot," I said.

"Go for Hotshot," Tim responded.

"I offered Two-Face part of the shipment of alcohol and cigarettes if he gave us some extra guys to carry their share. How many would we need?"

"I'd cap it at 15-20 and I would recommend them removing the uniforms if they wish to maintain neutral appearance. Meet at ACE Chemicals 3:30 AM tomorrow. They take what they can carry."

I looked at Two-Face and he nodded. "You got it," he said.

"Cool. Later." I walked on through the crowd.

"Later."

I headed back toward the Amusement Mile when an orange cat crossed my path and meowed.

"Hi," I said to the cat. "I don't have any food I'm sorry."

It meowed again.

I sighed and walked past the cat. _I miss Chekhov._

The cat followed me more a good while and then parted as I went by the church.

The next morning, we headed out, all geared up. I carried several ARACHMECHs with me in my armor covered by the black coat. We met up with the group of Two-Face thugs in casual wear at ACE Chemicals. They joined up with Helen's crew and took on ski masks.

"All right, Meredith," said Tim. "Alert us when you are inside."

"You got it," I said.

"You sure she should be going ahead alone?" A small man with glasses next to Newt commented.

"Honey, she is Queen of the Mile," said Newt. "She goes where she pleases and don't give a fuck."

I shook my head at Newt. "Don't make me laugh, or I'll never make it inside."

I grappled up onto a building and ran from rooftop to rooftop all the way to the Pinkney Museum several blocks south. Method of entry could be made from the rooftop ventilation… _just like old times..._ Alerting Tim to my entry, I crawled inside and headed over to the north wing while sending an ARACHMECH to monitor things in the south wing. Things were pretty quiet right now since it was so early in the morning. I found fifteen Penguin thugs sleeping and chilling around the north wing. I leapt down and quietly locked the doors leading out of the wing. One by one I incapacitated them and took on the final two in a fist fight, so one could raise an alarm.

"We got Meredith Storm in the North Wing!" A thug shouted. "I repeat, Meredith Storm in the North Wing!"

"You boys better your arses now!" Penguin shouted over the radio as I took the two guys down by slamming their heads together.

One of the ARACHMECHs crawled over to Lucy's display case cage and I saw she was decently bruised up with healing cuts. She was still wearing an orange jumpsuit and her blonde hair was a mess.

"I knew you'd save me," said Lucy with a smirk as the ARACHMECH opened up the case.

"Reinforcements approach," SONNY declared through the ARACHMECH.

"Oh, these things talk now?" Lucy asked frowning.

"Yeah." I gave her my black coat and we picked up guns off the floor. "SONNY, open up the Freeze suitcase."

The ARACHMECH launched over to the case and worked on opening it up as we heard banging on the locked doors.

"What's your plan?" Lucy asked.

"I'm winging it a bit," I explained. "We gotta get Mr. Freeze's suit over to Mr. Freeze in the south wing."

We looked at the big metal suit that glowed blue.

"You expect us to carry that clunky thing while being shot at?" Lucy asked.

I winced. "SONNY, can you handle the suit's controls?" I asked.

"I can certainly try." The ARACHMECH attached itself to the arm. "It seems I can control the defensive systems and basic mechanisms, but it requires a host to physically move."

"Get me in it."

"Miss, the core temperature of this suit is currently -30 degrees Fahrenheit," warned SONNY.

The doors sounded like they were being shot through.

"Do it, SONNY!" I shouted.

The suit opened up and I got inside. The cold was intense and made me do a violent shiver with a sigh. I could see my breath a lot now.

"I'm raising the temperature to 0 degrees," SONNY declared.

A fog was suddenly released from the suit, encasing the room. The temperature felt a lot better.

"Don't forget, we need to put Mr. Freeze in this suit, SONNY." I said. "If we see the freezing gun, the suit can be used to disable it."

"Of course, Miss."

"Why are we saving Mr. Freeze?" Lucy asked, confused.

"It's the right thing to do and I promise it will make more sense later." I put on Mr. Freeze's heat vision goggles on. "Get behind me."

The doors busted open. "Ah, smoke bombs!" One person shouted.

"You do currently have freezing grenades in your arsenal," said SONNY.

I picked up the freezing grenades and started throwing some towards the doors. Somewhat clunky, I walked over to the broken doors to find frozen thugs with more coming. I started shooting at them with the guns while Lucy took shots around me. The suit was pretty bullet proof.

As we reached the center where the shark pool was, I held Lucy back, seeing that people were waiting around the corner.

A freezing blast barely missed her.

The Penguin cackled. "You think you're gonna walk out guns blazing, Storm? Pop your head out again I dare you!"

"Lucy," I said, "stay out of sight." I flipped up the glass helmet and I leapt out in Penguin's view. He blasted hit me with the freezing gun.

I pretended to be frozen in place, knowing full well that the suit was built to break ice easy. Penguin froze the top of the pool over and made his way toward me. He was wearing pajamas and a robe.

"Trying to make it off with the suit and your girl, eh?" He cackled. "I knew you Drifters would come to save her like the suckers you are. Why else would I keep her alive?"

"Freezing gun disabled," SONNY declared.

"What?" Penguin frowned, looking at the gun.

The suit charged up and released a shockwave breaking the ice that held me. I kicked Penguin across the ice and grappled the gun out of his hands.

"Did you actually think Mr. Freeze's suit couldn't withstand a freeze blast?" I said through the distorted voice transmitter before freezing him and his men with the gun.

I flipped the helmet back off because it was fogging up like none other. "Come on, Lucy," I called to Lucy while carefully crossing the icy pool to reach the South Wing.

Lucy walked by the Penguin and his men and gave them a wave.

My joints were starting to kill me and I could barely feel my hands and feet. "Be careful, we might run into one of the Abramovici brothers," I said. I froze a few thugs that crossed my path.

"Just use the freeze gun," said Lucy, shaking her head.

We arrived at the end of the wing and saw Mr. Freeze trapped in a glass case. He looked like he was suffering in the room temperature, leaning on the glass.

"SONNY, open up the suit and the case," I commanded.

The suit opened up with the glass case. Mr. Freeze and I stumbled out of our uncomfortable situations. He crawled over to his open suit.

"Return suit to original temperature," I said, putting my hands in my armpits. My body was shivering like crazy.

Mr. Freeze put the suit on and relaxed as SONNY lowered the temperature. The ARACHMECH crawled off the suit.

"Who are you?" Mr. Freeze asked with his monotone voice.

"Meredith Storm," I said. "And this is Lucy," I said, indicating to Lucy. "We're Drifters of the Amusement Mile and you need to come with me if you want to get out of here. I know you might want revenge against the Penguin, but he's not worth it. You got bigger problems to worry about… like getting the hell out of Dodge."

"With my suit and freezing gun returned to me, I have very little to worry about. Please return my goggles."

"Oh yeah, sorry." I took them off and handed them back to him. Mr. Freeze cleaned them off and put them on.

"Why did you help me?" Mr. Freeze asked.

"Because releasing you and my friend will attract the attention of all the Penguin thugs in the vicinity," I said, flat-out. "So they won't notice what else is happening… and it's the right thing to do. I mean you're only trying to save your wife and that gets me right here." I touched my heart. "Especially as of late, but that's not important. It's best we all leave right now because that suit is slow as hell." I started walking ahead.

"What about the Penguin? He must pay for what he has done to me."

"He's currently frozen over his shark pool and is getting robbed. I'm feeling good about him right now."

"He got off easy," said Mr. Freeze, following Lucy and me as his helmet closed up. We returned to the shark pool and saw some thugs chipping out the Penguin with their backs to us. Mr. Freeze froze them without a thought.

"Okay, let's grapple across this ledge towards the museum entrance," I said.

"But there are more thugs that way," said Lucy.

"So?" I asked, nodding to Freeze.

The ARACHMECHs crawled on Mr. Freeze's suit, wrapped around the suit, and released grappling hooks while Lucy and I held onto him. We swung across to the top part. Lucy fell forward and Mr. Freeze almost fell backwards as the ARACHMECHs detached.

I yanked him forward to keep him from falling.

He sighed through his voice transmitter that made him sound a bit robotic. "I am not doing that again."

"Fair enough," I said as we walked onward.

"These spiders are yours?" Mr. Freeze commented as they crawled off him.

"Olivia's," I said as they crawled onto me. "She's… my partner."

We continued onward towards the initiation arena that was crawling with thugs. Mr. Freeze froze most of them up with ease while Lucy and myself fired at them. Though Mr. Freeze was slow, his stopping power made things a breeze. We walked along toward the front entrance and I noticed a female assassin was locked in a display case with candles.

"Hey, let this one out, Meredith," said Lucy.

"Pretty sure she bites and we're in a hurry," I said bitterly, shaking my head. _Don't need any more of these assassin bitches running around._

"Meredith," protested Lucy, stopping me. "Since when are you so cold?"

I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes at Lucy. "Since Olivia fucking died," I said, bitterly. "I've seen those tattoos before… Those judging eyes… Five people like her came after me when I tried to escape Gotham City. They came with photos of you with your face beat in, Lucy. 'Come back to Gotham or they die!'"

"Shit, I didn't know," said Lucy, scratching her head.

"I recommend treating them like black ops TYGER guards," I said. "Because as far as I know, that's what they are." I pointed at the assassin. "You and all your fucking ninja friends can go fuck yourselves whoever the hell you think you are."

She stared at me blankly.

My arms trembled with anger and I continued up the stairs in a huff.

"What happened to Olivia?" Lucy asked, pursuing me. "Did she blow up her house trying to keep the TYGERs away?"

"This is neither the time nor place, Lucy," I said coldly. "Let's just get back to Mt. Olympus."

We continued out the front doors and gave Mr. Freeze cover fire as he made us a path through the Bowery. Other Drifters made their escape with loads of loot. Some ran with shopping carts full of stuff.

"Those are friends," I alerted Mr. Freeze. "Two-Face thugs are neutral with us as well."

We kept moving on out and the Penguin thugs started firing off explosives, tossing molotovs.

"I am running low," Mr. Freeze declared, throwing a few freezing grenades behind us.

"So am I," said Lucy.

"It's okay, we're almost clear," I said, ducking into an alley, seeing ACE Chemicals a few blocks down. "And Mr. Freeze, no offense but that suit needs skates or something."

"I cannot skate," insisted Mr. Freeze.

"Eh, me either," said Lucy, waving dismissively. "Always end up twisting an ankle."

I heard some people shouting in alarm. I looked back and saw the other Abramovici brother with a big sickle coming after our people. Tim was getting ready to rush him. There was a nearby water tower across the street on top of a building.

"Freeze, I'm gonna drop that water tower on these thugs," I said, pointing at the tower. "Do your thing, please." I grappled up across the street. "Tim I'm gonna do something crazy and you're gonna need to get out of the way," I declared on the radio.

"Tell me when," Tim replied.

I laid out explosives to blow out the side and stood to the side. "Five seconds."

There was an explosion and the water came pouring out with chunks of ice already in it.

"Oh shit," I said, seeing big chunks fall.

One chunk of ice came down onto Sickle Abramovici's head and Mr. Freeze froze the falling water as it landed on a crowd of Penguin thugs.

"How much more are coming, Tim?" I asked, watching the south from the rooftop.

"Newt and his accountant friend should be the last," said Tim.

I saw a group with two men in the back chased by a group of thugs. One of the two men was inside the cart of stuff while the other was pushing and constantly looking back, his sunglasses were glaring from the sunrise. I jumped over to the new ice sculpture in the middle of the street and slid down the side of it, facing the oncoming crew. I chucked grenades and smoke bombs over their heads at the Penguin thugs behind him.

As the cart came closer, I saw it was an unconscious Newt inside the cart with bullets. His little accountant friend with glasses was pushing the cart, his face red from overexertion. "Are you the last?" I asked.

He couldn't speak and only nodded his head as he ran by. I picked up fallen machine guns and fired at the oncoming horde of Penguin thugs as I screamed with bloodlust.

I suddenly heard a crack and felt a sickening feeling in my abdomen. Looking down, I saw a blade sticking through me.

I turned my head and saw Sickle Abramovici was partially free from the ice, bleeding from his head while lying on the ground. His sickle was sticking me. Annoyed, I stomped on his arm to get the sickle out of his grasp and pulled the blade out of my abdomen and back.

"You okay?" Tim asked, paling a bit.

"Never better," I said, spitting blood in Sickle's face. I tossed the sickle aside and continued into Park Row with blood gushing out of my abdomen. Any penguins that followed came into the range of Two-Face's crew after we passed ACE chemicals. The Drifters walked home, all of us feeling pretty great about ourselves only to discover a lot of gunfire was coming out of Mt. Olympus. Tim ordered the able-bodied into position for attacking the invading clowns.

Tim nodded to me. "Stay with them," he commanded, nodding to the supply runners. Lucy ran ahead with him while the others looked to me, exhausted.

Mr. Freeze approached me in his suit. "You are bleeding heavily," he commented.

"It happens every once and a while," I said with a shrug as I looked at the icy water under the highway. No one would be letting the bridge loose with these defensive conditions, but they would need more ammunition soon. The others and myself were ready to drop. "Mr. Freeze, could you possibly make a bridge on the water to Olympus.

"I could, but I cannot be seen working with you when Joker has my wife." Mr. Freeze made an ice bridge of his own going towards the old GCPD station that was more east. "Farewell." He walked along, his cleats digging into the ice to give him stability.

"Great," commented a Drifter sarcastically.

"There's no one to raise the underwater bridge," someone commented.

"Are we just going to stand around here?"

"SONNY, let's grapple to the entrance," I said.

"I am afraid we cannot, Meredith," said SONNY. "The circuitry of the grapple-gun and ARACHMECHs are not waterproofed."

"Okay, then. Guess I'm gonna have to swim." I set the ARACHMECHs and grapple-guns aside.

"You'll get hypothermia in that water in no time flat," protested a drifter, "and if you're bleeding you'll attract sharks!"

I jumped into the freezing cold water and swam along towards Mt. Olympus' entrance, gritting my teeth and shivering.

"You're crazy!" One shouted.

 _Thanks, Captain Obvious, for your wonderful insight…_

I swam up to the entrance and climbed inside. Quickly, I cranked up the underwater bridge for them, locked it, and collapsed against the wall, holding my abdomen. The Drifters came running in.

"Get that ammunition upstairs immediately," I commanded.

"I'm the last!" The accountant pushing the cart declared.

"Drop the bridge," I said.

He undid the locking mechanism and the bridge sank back underwater. Groaning, he shut the door and lied on the ground, exhausted. "You have to be one of the craziest, toughest woman I have ever met," he said, looking at me.

"Thanks," I said, lying down myself.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired as fuck," I said.

"What? Fuck?" Newt asked, waking up. "What happened, Nick?" He struggled out of the shopping cart.

"That big one knocked you out," said the accountant apparently named Nick. "But I got you out."

"Whaaaat? You saved me?" Newt asked, touched.

The accountant shrugged. "You'd do the same."

"Aw, you." Newt tweaked Nick's nose. "Thanks." Then, he noticed me. "Oh you're bleeding everywhere, Honey. We need to get you to medics." Newt picked me up.

"No medics, I'll be fine."

"Like hell."

"I'm a mutant," I said, flat-out. I wiped blood from the stab wound. "Look at it."

Newt looked. "Shit!" He dropped me.

"Ow," I said, lying on the floor.

"I don't understand," said Nick. "Why doesn't she need a medic?"

"Because her body is healing faster than normal people," said Newt. "It just closed up right in front of me, Man. Super sick."

"Yep," I said. "I try to keep it a secret, but people keep finding out, and I'm starting to give a fuck less and less."

"Because of Olivia?" Newt asked.

"I guess."

"Who's Olivia?" Nick asked.

Newt rolled his eyes. "Her girlfriend that died who made those freaky spider robots, don't you pay attention?"

"I... guess not."

"Well, get up you two sleepy heads, can't just stand in the doorway."

I groaned and got up on my own. Newt pulled Nick to his feet. I moseyed upstairs to the coffee floor to reach Tim's stash of vodka upstairs. I took some swigs and passed out in the office as the chaos continued. _Too weak to fight._

Eventually, I was awakened by Tim and Lucy.

"How you feeling?" Lucy asked.

"Better," I said, sitting up. "Didn't mean to slack off at the end there."

"No, you did great," said Tim. "You are hungry?"

"Starving actually."

He helped me up and we headed downstairs.

"Sorry about Olivia," said Lucy.

"Shit happens," I said with a shrug, taking vodka with me. "Just glad you're okay."

We entered the mess hall and a bunch of Drifters said "Heeeey!"

"All hail Hotshot and Queen of the Mile!" One guy shouted drunkenly, standing up. "Woo-woo!"

Many echoed the 'Woo-woo'.

I waved dismissively and sat down with my back against a wall. Lucy down beside me while Tim remained standing.

"Drifters of the Amusement Mile," Tim said, speaking up. "You have all proven your salt in this grand scale heist and the attack of the clowns! That gives me great pride!" He thumped his chest. "Some say we take in the people that other gangs have thrown away. That is true… they see you as trash no one wanted… In my eyes, no human being is trash except those that treat human beings like trash!" He shook with anger. "As the sun rose from the east, we all took out the trash because that is what people do."

There was a moment of silence and then there was clapping and foot stomping that became applause from over a hundred people. Guns were fired off in celebration.

Lucy and I clapped, too.

Tim eventually waved them down to quiet again. "And a moment of silence for the 10 people we lost today, may they not be forgotten as the tide takes them home."

People bowed their heads in silence. 10 shots were fired out the window toward the bay in a slow succession.

"Celebrate as you know they would wish to celebrate," said Tim. "And please remember your rotation, so less shots will be heard in memoriam. Thank you."

There were more claps and the people returned to their conversations and celebration.

Tim sat down with us and we ate together. Lucy eventually went over to join a drinking game while Tim and I sat alone in a pleasant silence.

"I'm gonna head back to sleep," I said, feeling nourished, drunk, and socially overwhelmed. Depression was slowly creeping into my bones, making me feel sore.

Tim nodded. "Do you need me to walk you back?"

"I think I can handle it. Thanks." I got up and headed upstairs with my vodka bottle. As I reached the coffee floor, I passed Mark who looked a little wobbly.

"Hey, how are ya'?" Mark asked.

"The opposite of sober," I said, taking a swig of the vodka. "Good night." I stumbled over to the office and Mark helped me out. I pulled out the bed from the couch, peeled off my armor, and lied down, feeling the room spin a bit.

"You okay?" Mark asked, the room spinning around his head.

"The less I have to think, the better I feel," I said with a goofy grin.

He pushed my hair out of my face and took a swig of my vodka. "Ditto." He coughed a little and I chuckled at him.

"What are you giggling at?" Mark asked, smirking. I felt his body hovering over mine as he leaned in closer to pull me into a kiss. He was tight against me and I was overwhelmed and confused. His hands were feeling around me, and I tensed as he touched between my legs.

" _You should've gave in sooner."_

Immediately, I grabbed Mark's wrist and pushed him off me. "No, don't do that," I said.

"Why not?" Mark asked, confused as he lied beside me.

"I just can't do that," I said, bringing up my knees and wrapping my arms around my torso. "I can't."

"You know I wouldn't hurt you. In fact, I want you to feel great." He put an arm around my waist and kissed my neck.

"I'm not ready for this," I insisted, turning away from him.

"Don't you love me?"

"You know I do, I just can't right now."

"If not now, then when? I'm not gonna be here forever…" He pulled me against him again. "I'm dying and slowly being driven crazy. I'd die happier knowing I got a little closer to you." He was on top of me again, putting his mouth on mine.

I felt a little aroused thinking about it, but at the same time I kept thinking about Dr. Giovanni… Olivia… all those bad and hurtful memories.

Mark had half our clothes off and I just could not do it. I kicked him off me and onto the ground. Upset, I threw his shirt at him. "Get out of here, right now!" I demanded, putting my shirt back on. "No means no, dammit!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but you've been giving me puppy eyes for years!" Mark shouted, getting up. "I thought you wanted this!"

"I want O-Olivia," I stammered out. "Just get out and leave me alone!"

"Olivia's dead, Meredith. I'm right here but I won't be here forever!"

"Good!" I shouted. "Then I have one less thing to worry about! This whole situation is your fault anyway! You weren't supposed to come back!"

"Tim left me!"

"You told him to get out! You couldn't pick up the fucking phone?!"

"It's hard for me to think when I cannot sleep, Woman!"

"Goddammit just get out!" I opened the door and forced him out. Some bystanders on the stairs were listening and watching.

"You're afraid of enjoying yourself!" Mark snarled, getting back up. "You're afraid of letting yourself have fun because you think everything is going to fall apart again."

"I'm not the happy ending kind of girl. You don't know what's going on out there!" I pointed towards Arkham City. "You don't know the man that's running this place! Did you really call date-rape fun?! I am drunk off my ass and consumed with grief! I am incapable of giving consent!"

"Tell me what's going on, then, Queen of the Mile!"

"There is a psychotic and sadistic mind-rapist running Arkham City," I scathed. "THE MAYOR IS HIS FUCKBOY TAKING HIS MINDFUCK PILLS!" Unable to contain my anger, I slammed my forehead against the doorframe.

I suddenly saw Lucy come running over. "Holy shit, what's going on, Guuuuuuys?"

Mark grimaced. "And people say I'm crazy. I don't know who the hell you are anymore, Meredith."

"Neither do I," I said bitterly. "I also don't know who _you_ are anymore. Go kill yourself, Whoever-You-Are. I'd kill myself, too, but we all know how that goes." I shrugged.

"Maybe I will!" Mark growled, stomping away.

"Good! Tell Olivia I fucking miss her!"

"What happened?" Lucy asked, confused. "Why are we being so nasty?"

"Everything's fine," I said, shutting the door and locking it. I lied back down on the bed and kept drinking rest of the bottle until it was empty. Then, I threw it into the corner and leaned back staring at the ceiling for a while.

"'Misery loves company…

Company loves more…

More loves everybody else…

But hell is others…'"

I sung whatever song came to my head and passed out. When I awoke, I was still decently drunk and it was dark outside. I opened the window and considered jumping out.

 _Could totally tell Mr. Freeze where his wife is! Christmas cheer all around!_

 _Isn't that a crucial plot point?_

 _Fuck plot points I just want to do something nice that is out of this popsicle._

 _You're too drunk._

 _No. You're too drunk._

 _We are too drunk._

 _We're still amazing though. Let's goooo!_

 _Fine…_

Pulling on a coat, I picked up my grappling hook and prepared to jump out the window and swing around the radio tower over to GCPD. I strolled inside through the back and looked around. "Hellooooo, Mr. Freezy?" I called, going down some stairs into the lab area. It was pretty cold, but I didn't see Mr. Freeze anywhere. "Mr. Freeeeeze!" I called. "I bring tidings and good cheer!" I scratched my head.

 _Where is he?!_

 _Maybe we're dreaming. There's no way we could grapple that easy across those buildings._

 _Should I leave a note or just wait for him to come back?_

 _Clown's probably got him right now unless the TYGER guards just magically picked him up. They are sorcerers like that. If we leave a note, it might be seen by the wrong person._

 _Well, shit, what do we do know?"_

"Meredith, I must advise you to return to Mt. Olympus or seek shelter until someone can pick you up," stated an ARACHMECH. "Your current blood alcohol level would kill most humans."

 _Party pooper._

"I'll do what I want, SONNY," I said, going back outside. "What else can I do right now?"

 _Well, there is phase two of Bat-Crazy…_

 _What?_

 _Painting a bat symbol in front of every camera and on every billboard._

 _Where would we even get that much paint? Blood of our enemies?_

 _Joker has graffiti everywhere. We could totally jack his paint._

 _How much would we need to cover all the cameras in Arkham City? That's an extremely difficult one-man job. That would take at least a week!_

 _It would only be a few minutes if we put it into a montage._

 _I… can't even right now._

 _Wouldn't it be great if we could though? Maybe have Flash's superspeed and play Nyan Cat in the background?_

 _Yes, it would be cool but it is not possible._

 _Let's steal paint and then create a plan to leave the symbols everywhere!_

 _That's even more dangerous than the heist we just did._

 _Maybe we could apologize and ask nice._

 _Fat chance…_

 _Umm… how do you make paint?_

 _Ask SONNY, the new Siri._

"Hey, SONNY…" I said, looking to the ARACHMECH.

"Yes, Meredith?" SONNY asked.

"I want to paint symbols on a bunch of walls in the outdoors. Color doesn't matter. Just has to be very visible and hard to remove. What can I logically do this with in Arkham City with the least risk to myself?"

"Processing… ACE Chemicals would likely have something in surplus with the least amount of risk. Caution: some chemicals are corrosive and emit poisonous fumes."

"Works for me," I said, pleased.

"What purpose does this misadventure serve, Miss?" SONNY asked.

"Same as Mission Bat-Crazy. They will be in view of every camera and on every TYGER billboard."

"That is quite extensive, Miss. Each district has 12 cameras, totaling to 48 cameras. There are currently ten TYGER billboards."

"Well, let's see what I have to work with." I grappled across Amusement Mile and swung around the church steeple to reached the roof of the ACE chemicals building and busted open the door of the roof.

"Incoming transmission from Hotshot Tim," SONNY announced.

"Meredith, what are you doing?" Tim asked.

"I'm conducting research for a side project," I said. "What are you doing?"

"I don't mean to worry about you, but you had a lot of drinks and a pretty rough argument with Mark."

"Consider this blowing off steam, Tim." I looked around at the bubbling vats and put on a gas mask.

"Did you really tell him to go kill himself?"

"I said a lot of things. Did they also mention he tried to talk me into sex while I was drunk because he was dying?"

"Someone did mention date-rape. I won't make either of you apologize—

"Good," I cut in. "Because I wasn't the one slipping into his bed running my hands all over him and kept going after he said 'no, please stop'. I had to kick him off of me and shove him out of the room to get him to leave."

Tim sighed. "I'm so sorry that happened. What do you want me to do, Meredith?"

"Nothing. He just needs to stay away from me. I thought I made that clear to him, but I guess he's not into listening to me anymore."

"Very well. Please, be careful whatever you're doing."

"You bet," I said walking around. "End call."

The ARACHMECH beeped.

I clapped my hands together. "So, SONNY, what looks good?"

"If you wish for something noticeable, I suggest VAT 3019, the bright green one. Beware of the fumes and the chemicals are slightly corrosive."

"Okay," I said, noting the bright green vat a few floors down.

"Please allow me to scan the building for helpful materials."

I sat on a step nearby and watched the ARACHMECH run around, scanning the place. The spider eventually returned to me. "There is a hazmat suit and a tank with straps and a tube that can be aimed to shoot 3019 and suck it back up. Ideally, you can spray a blot and suck up any excess to create desired bat symbol. You may be able to do one district per tank filling. If you wish for a dramatic reveal, I can glitch the cameras into being unable to see the symbol until we are ready."

"That would be amazing. Thank you, SONNY."

"You are welcome, Miss. Do you wish to do this now?"

"Nah, I would like to continue this around the end of December when I'm less drunk or hungover," I said. "Whatever. Schedule it in on say the 29th at sundown."

"It is done, Miss."

"Great, thanks." I headed back up to the roof and took off the gas mask.

"What is next on the agenda?" SONNY asked.

"I can either go home or visit Poison Ivy. The latter is sounding better right now."

"To sympathize with the incident between you and Mark?"

"Or maybe not talk about it at all, SONNY. That might be better." I jumped from the building and used the grappler to swing into the far corner of the Amusement Mile where a large plant was wrapped around the building.

"Is this a subject not to be discussed with you, Miss?" SONNY asked.

"Yes."

"Very well. Never to be discussed again."

"Thank you." I arrived at the building and noticed Ivy's brainwashed goons were on patrol. Their eyes glowed green. Casually, I avoided their sightlines and entered the place with ease.

It was somewhat humid inside. The floors had pods and there were large vines all around.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Meredith," commented Poison Ivy as she stood up. She looked about as well as I had last seen her.

"Hard times, Ivy," I said with a shrug. "I'm not very good at calling."

"Neither am I. What brings you my way?"

"A change of scenery I suppose. Had an argument with an old friend and I needed to get away from the building altogether."

"I see." She sat on a bed of moss and clover and I had no idea what else. Ivy patted beside her.

I sat down. "So how have you been?" I asked, smiling softly. "You look like you healed up from the Titan pretty well."

"Thanks for noticing," said Ivy. "I picked up some pollen from a visiting priest that allowed me to heal myself… The park you and your partner created is well-kept. I'm impressed."

"Thanks."

"Is your partner in here as well?"

"No, she died refusing arrest because she's severely agoraphobic."

"I'm sorry," she said touching my knee.

"Sorry about those orchids you lost."

"Don't worry. The one responsible will pay for it as soon as she shows her face again," said Ivy. "Do you plan revenge for the loss of your partner?"

"Certainly, it's in progress actually."

"Really, do tell."

"Tell me what you'll do with Catwoman, first?" I asked.

"Poisonous spores."

"Right, the usual. Can you keep this a secret?" I asked.

"Of course," said Poison Ivy.

"When arrested, I was covered in Anthrax. Before that, I put a deadly mold on five bodies certain people will be looking for. Delivered the heads of said bodies as my RSVP to a threat. I am slowly but surely poisoning Professor Strange via anonymous notes."

"With what?"

"Well, the pigment on the notes is black vermilion which contains Mercury."

"That's very slow," commented Ivy. "Unless you're more interested in driving him crazy rather than killing him."

"Precisely… I tried killing him before and it didn't work out so well, so I'm just going full-on passive-aggressive and screwing with his head as poetic justice for all the heads he has dug into."

"What do the notes say?"

"Nothing. They just have a bat symbol drawn on them. It's the best way to get at him because he is absolutely obsessed with Batman.

"Really?" Ivy asked surprised. "Well actually, now that I think of it, he did ask me a lot of questions about Batman years ago… Asked about when I first saw Batman, things I did before I saw him. I didn't think much about it at the time. What makes you think he's obsessed?"

I considered how to put it. "He makes these offhand comments like how much Arkham City is compared to the work of vigilantes like Batman. He makes them a lot. Whenever he discusses Batman, he puts him down like he's some Joe Schmo in a cape. It's difficult to explain, but I've just seen it before. He's super jealous… and I am all too happy to use that against him."

"Won't he think that Batman is sending these notes?"

I shook my head. "I would think he's intelligent enough to know that Batman doesn't do stuff like this, but who knows?" I leaned back against the mossy wall. "But that's phase one."

"What's phase two?"

"Exposure to liquid mercury and 58 bat symbols all over Arkham City. Then, I think the motherlode of bat notes on Valentine's day."

"The motherlode of bat notes, Miss?" SONNY asked through the ARACHMECH on my shoulder.

"Yes, SONNY," I said, patting the spider.

"How would we manage that?"

"Pay a cargo plane to drop notes from the sky all over Wonder Tower? I don't know. We'll figure it out later."

"Very well."

Poison Ivy gave me a look with her glowing green eyes.

"It's the A.I. my partner left behind," I explained. "Took over her operations. It's like a managing caretaker robot, originally built as an assistant."

"Oh."

"This isn't him by the way," I said gesturing to the ARACHMECH. "He can just take control of other robots in the system."

We were quiet for a while.

"Do you want to talk about what happened that sent you over here?" Ivy asked.

"Well, we don't have to. I could sit quietly with you unless silence bothers you."

"I never really have silence. My babies are always talking," she indicated to the plants and pushed her curly red hair out of her face.

"I just don't want to be here to complain. It'll just put me in a bad mood."

"Well, tell me about it and I'll find ways to distract you," she said.

I sighed. "Okay. Well, the other morning was a big day for us…" I began.

She listened to every word of my story and reacted reasonably to the events.

By the end of it, I was leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and looking straight ahead at the vines covered in flowers and the mycelium… fascinated at how the plants and fungus seemed to be legitimately living and breathing. My eyelids were heavy and I felt drained.

"I think he deserved every foul word you gave him," said Ivy. "Ill or not. There is no excuse for such vile behavior. I must ask though. Do you think you'll ever be able to handle sexual activity?"

"Of course, if I met the right person. I mean I deeply admired Mark when I first met him, but after a while those feelings burned out… especially after the connection I had with Olivia. Nothing feels like it could compare, and I want to take my own pace on mourning and letting her go."

"Absolutely, everyone is different. At least, you seem willing to let go _eventually_. Poor Harl on the other hand…" Ivy shook her head and sighed. "I don't think she's ever going to let go… even if he does die."

"Probably not," I agreed. "I mean she'll function after a while, but she'll always miss him."

"Would you like to take a try some of these mushrooms with me?" Poison Ivy asked, indicating to some nearby.

"Well, as long as they don't make me sick… I usually prefer to sauté mushrooms."

"I prefer like mine raw. They're fine. They just take you places."

 _Doesn't it get weird eating your babies? I mean I suppose we raise cattle…_

"Okay," I said. "Here's to hoping for a nice trip."

We walked over to these mushrooms and she plucked one for me to eat. I waited until she had hers and bit into mine the same time she did. It tasted gross, but I kept eating it trying to not insult my host. I wasn't feeling any effects.

"I have wine to wash out the taste," said Poison Ivy, wrinkling her face a bit.

A vine opened a trap door and picked up a bottle that looked a little old.

"Thank you," she said, accepting the bottle. She uncorked it and offered the bottle to me.

I took it and politely water-falled the wine into my mouth.

"I gave you the bottle first for a reason," she commented, bemused as she took the bottle and drank.

"I just don't want to give you my germs… and you couldn't kill me if you tried."

"Really?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah," I said. "I've attempted suicide in countless ways… You can hurt me and make me feel sick, but I'm never gonna die because I have regenerative abilities and unbreakable bones."

"So if I kissed you right now, you would not die?"

"Nope."

She chuckled. "I might have to test that later."

We sat down on the moss and clover together, waiting for the trip to come.

"What are you going to do when you get out?" Poison Ivy asked.

"Bury Olivia. Go off on a long vacation," I said. "Then, pick up jobs if we have any clientele left."

"We?"

"SONNY and me," I said.

"Not your Drifter friends?"

"They'll go back into retirement if they're still alive after the end of this."

"If?" Ivy questioned.

"Well, can't you just feel like that Arkham City is gonna have an ugly ending? I just know at the back of my head that my misery is just beginning. I kinda expect all hope to be sucked out… like an extremely horrible version of spring-cleaning."

"That's probably your depression talking."

"Maybe you're right."

"I am right." Funny vibrations came off her as she talked. They were colorful and pink.

"Whoa," I said, staring at her.

"Starting to kick in for you?" Poison Ivy asked.

"Yeah," I said chuckling nervously.

"Just relax and breathe with me."

We breathed together and I saw the plants were all breathing, too. I could almost swear that they were whispering. It felt like we were in a really cool jungle with no bugs or animals.

Poison Ivy ran her fingers along my arm and I felt amazing tingles.

I stared around feeling exhilarated by all the sensations and sounds. She walked around and the vines brought her and me higher up and we wandered on the floors. All the colors were crazy. It was an odd yet enchanting experience, but I think I would stick to weed and alcohol next time. The mushroom aftertaste was pretty bad.


	10. Chapter 10: Things of Legend

CHAPTER TEN: THINGS OF LEGEND

 _I was resting in the clouds, gazing up at the sky._

 _She was breathing beside me, breathing softly under her red curls. Glancing over to her, I pushed her curls out of her face and saw Olivia's face. Her glasses were broken and the red in her hair was blood on my hand._

 _My heart sank in horror and I remembered clouds couldn't hold our weight. We fell through the sky. I was too breathless to scream._

 _Olivia's hazel eyes opened as her glasses fell off her face and hit me. She was gazing down at me as we fell through the sky. We reached out to take hands. As our fingers touched, lightning struck. I was temporarily blinded and she flew back up with the lightning. I fell faster, still holding her glasses._

 _"It's not sweet potato heaven without her!" Olivia shouted above, slowing my fall. "I need her or I will be a very unhappy grandma dammit!"_

 _"There is nothing for your potato," said another voice._

 _I fell faster through the sky and crashed through some sort of roof, landing on a wet carpet. I heard a meow as Chekhov the gray cat approached. Groaning, I got up and saw that it was Olivia's house spattered with blood, making all white things red and all blue things black. The paintings were on fire and screaming. Outside, there was a dying tree had bottles hanging from it._

 _Shaking, I stood up and tried to go outside, but the doors were without knobs. The windows were growing bars. As I struggled to find a way out, the carpet began spiraling into a vortex where a potato monster with many eyes, vines, and sharp teeth came out. "POTATO WILL ALWAYS LOVE MEREDITH!"_

 _I picked up the cat and struggled to get back, but I was slipping. The vines had me._

I awoke with my heart beating out of my chest and push Ivy's vines off of me. Tears ran down my face as I tried to focus and stop hyperventilating. I got up and paced as Ivy woke up.

 _Stop panicking. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It was one of those weird fucking nightmares you get!_

"Bad dream?" Ivy asked, sitting up. Her red hair was still perfect in spite of the sleep.

 _Why are you so freaked over a potato monster?! A FUCKING POTATO MONSTER! What the fuck is wrong with you?! You want her to think you're some sort of freak?_

I collapsed to the ground. "I'm-fine," I said, catching my breath. _How could I forget the cat? Has SONNY been feeding the cat?_

Ivy pushed her hair back. "You're not a very good liar, Meredith."

I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face. "It was a horrible dream where Olivia was flying up and I was falling down—and I crashed into the house—where there was a potato monster—blood everywhere—the paintings were screaming and on fire. I couldn't get out and there was a tree with bottles hanging from it outside."

"A potato monster?" Ivy asked, raising a brow.

It sounded like it was sleeting or raining outside with all the thuds on the roof.

Sniffing, I wiped tears off my face with my sleeve. "Yeah, my dreams get stupid and weird… I—Never mind."

"What?"

I stood up. "It's just dumb, okay? I'm gonna go before something stupid flies out my mouth and I embarrass myself again."

"No need for you to be embarrassed," said Ivy touching my shoulder. "I've heard stranger things and you're currently grieving. What were you going to say?"

"I called her 'Sweet Potato' and she called me 'Babydeth'," I said, gazing at the door.

"That's cute… but why 'Baby-Death'?"

"Inside joke. It was nice to hang out with you, but I just need to go alone now."

"Of course."

"Do you need anything?" I asked, looking at her.

Poison Ivy shook her head and put her arms around my neck. "Come back anytime."

I hugged her warmly and headed out the door. One of the vines lifted me up and let me out.

The ARACHMECH followed me out and set up on my shoulder as I stepped outside in the sleet. Immediately, it crawled inside my coat to protect its non-waterproof hardware.

It was definitely sometime in the afternoon. _Still not ready to go back… but I am hungry._

Ivy's hypnotized thugs didn't pay me any mind as I stepped out on the deck. I gazed out blankly, knowing I needed to move before the sleet soaked my clothes.

 _I remember a thug sneaking into a crate hanging between the Amusement Mile and Industrial District, hoping to eat until he was gorged. Perhaps I should check it out._

Stepping up to the ledge, I grappled across the flooded Amusement Mile, occasionally running across the rooftops. I ran around the bay side of Mt. Olympus and walked on the edge of the GCPD building.

"I apologize, Meredith, but shouldn't we return to Mt. Olympus for shelter?" SONNY asked. "Are you still angry at Mark?"

"It's not just that," I explained. "If I go back, I'll want to sleep and if I go to sleep I might have another nightmare. I need to shake it off, get some air-just do something else."

"Very well. Your nightmare sounded quite bizarre and frightening."

"It was," I agreed. "That's why I don't want to rest right now." I reached the rooftop of the toy factory and I could see the shipping crate hanging between the two districts. "It's terrible when you can't escape from life in your sleep… when you can only dream of work or other troubles."

"You do not use sleep to rest?" SONNY asked.

"I do but at the same time I use it to take myself out of my situation… maybe I'll dream about being a pirate… flying high in the sky because you solely believe you can… fighting with a random foe over a sandwich you don't even want… random celebrity appearances… You never know what you're going to get. It's always a random mashup of things currently going on and things at the back of your mind. It's always weird, unapologetic, and occasionally fascinating. One time, I had a dream where the Joker playing the ukulele while lying across the backs of his thugs that were crawling on all fours toward firelight in the sewer tunnels… I mean it did lead to a nightmare where Killer Croc was eating Lucy's arm, but it's kind of amusing to look back on now… considering the crunching noises were only Olivia eating celery." I chuckled. "That's another thing about dreams… things we hear and physically feel are sometimes incorporated into dreams."

"Personally, I would rather not have that experience while powered down, but I suppose some humans find whimsy in that particular quirk. Olivia appreciated the insights you held for humanity's inner workings."

I shrugged. "Whatever that means." I tried to figure out the best angle to get to the crate. "SONNY?"

"Yes?"

"Is the cat okay?"

"The cat is alive and well. Sometimes, it meows a lot. I think it misses its human companions."

Suddenly, I watched a huge figure rip the side of the shipping crate open and take a bunch of large boxes. The clowns shot at him as he leapt over to the highway, jumping from building towards me.

It was Bane, the ridiculously muscle-bound, Latino assassin/mercenary with a black and white face mask and a large Venom-filled tank on his back to juice him. Blinking, I realized I was standing on the rooftop of his hiding place.

Stepping out of the way, I watched as he landed on the roof of the toy factory, making the building shake a bit. I held my ground, not falling off the building like a wimp.

Breathing heavy with big breaths, Bane turned and looked at me with glowing, green eyes. He was easily twice my size.

 _What is it with glowing, green eyes in this town? I could probably name off ten people with glowing, green eyes._

He stared me down.

I stared back, not exactly sure what to do. _All these years and I've never encountered you. Do I hold the door politely? Walk away? Say hello? Demand him to make me a sandwich? Pfft…_ I shrugged to myself.

Bane frowned, very confused. "Something to say, Senorita?" He asked.

"I wish I had something impressive or snarky to say, but I really don't right now," I admitted. "I guess we're neighbors, so hi." I glanced over to his path and noticed he dropped some cans of stuff. _Good enough._

He grunted. "You're with those thieves at Olympus?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Take from me and I will take your life."

I shook my head. "We only steal from clowns and penguins and sometimes TYGERs. Unless you bother us, we won't bother you."

"As long as none of you are taking TITAN," he warned.

I wrinkled my face in disgust and folded my arms. "That's not our style. We're more guerrilla force than actual gorillas. Using TITAN let alone selling it would be exile or execution worthy in my opinion. Whatever we find, we might just throw your way as long as you don't attack us of course."

"Are you leader of the Olympus rats?" Bane asked.

"I'm Meredith Storm… pretty close to the top… and its _Drifters_ of the Amusement Mile actually, but I won't hold that against you."

"How can you make such promise, then?" Bane's eyes narrowed.

"It's not a particularly complex promise so much as a neighborly courtesy that benefits us. One, the TITAN is technically a wrongfully made bi-product of the Venom drained from you. Two, we don't have a problem with you and have no reason to get in your way. Three, we have no use for TITAN. It is dangerous, addictive, and can make you die a horrible death. Four, our enemies like to use TITAN and that can be bad for us." I shivered under the sleet, brushing the ice off me. "But nice talk, I'm going to move along now. Bye, Bane."

"Bye, Senorita," he said.

I leapt over to the buildings picking up the stuff he dropped. Quickly, I headed over to Park Row to find a tall, abandoned apartment building to hide out in. I lit up a fire in the tiled living room using paper, broken floor planks, and other dry wood goods. Warming up beside the fire, I looked through my findings. It was mostly baked beans and peas, but there were some green beans and tuna. Sighing in disgust for baked beans, I happily settled on a couple cans of green beans and a tuna can. Unfortunately, they were frozen inside the cans. I set the open cans on a makeshift grate over the fire and waited for them to thaw.

Feeling paranoid, I double-checked the apartment's doors and windows to make sure no one could sneak up on me. It was a relatively decent yet old two-bedroom apartment with floral wallpaper that someone abandoned in a hurry. Noting the creaky spots of the floor and rusty fire escape that made noise at the slightest addition of weight, I felt fine with simply securing the main door by wedging a chair between the doorknob and floor. I found a clean silverware in the kitchen drawer, spoiled food in the fridge, and six wine bottles on a rack that had never been opened.

 _Wow, you'd think they would've taken the wine bottles before they left._ I examined the six bottles further and noticed they were all the same Cabernet Sauvignon. I looked at the bottoms and saw "Happy Anniversary, Cal and Aggie!" written on the bottom of the bottle.

 _Anniversary wine. Yikes…_ I put them back. _I didn't need to drink anyway…_

 _We never had an anniversary day…_

I sighed. _When would we even say that our anniversary day was? The day we met? The day we awkwardly admitted feelings? The first time we had dinner? Slept in the same bed? The day our business partnership officially began? Or just treat every day like anniversary day because every day was special?_

My eyes watered a bit. Maybe it was the smoke, maybe it was just the idea of never celebrating an anniversary or anything with her again. I opened a window that the smoke could blow out of and added more wood by breaking a chair. Wiping my eyes, I sat down by the fire and poked at the cans with my fork. _Not yet._

I leaned against the wall and folded my arms. The images of the nightmare passed through my mind… Olivia's hair soaked with blood, the tree with the bottles hanging from it, that stupid potato monster…

I stood back up and found an armchair to sit in. The ARACHMECH crawled out of my coat and crawled onto the kitchen counter. "Would you like me to play music for you, Meredith?" SONNY asked.

I blinked surprised. "Sure, play… the Third Movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata."

The ARACHMECH became a speaker for classical music as I sat in my chair, letting my mind go blank of words. I only felt the emotion and pace of the music itself. Eventually, I got to my food and listened to other classical pieces that were public domain.

I didn't know how long I was there until the ARACHMECH interrupted the Lacrimosa section of Mozart's Requiem Mass. "Incoming message," it announced.

"The song is almost over," I grumbled.

"Do you accept incoming message?"

"Yes," I said rolling my eyes.

"Hotshot requests your presence on the coffee floor whenever you return to Mt. Olympus."

"Tell him 'okay'."

"Response sent… response received."

I rubbed my left temple. "Great. Finish the Requiem, please."

The ARACHMECH played the rest of the piece. I tried to return to the peace I felt before but could not.

 _I wonder what Tim wants to talk about. I really hope he's not looking to mediate between Mark and me… I'm not apologizing._

 _What you said was pretty fucking mean._

 _What he did was pretty unforgivable._

 _He was drunk._

 _So was I._

 _Yeah, so you ought to push pride aside, admit you were drunk, and respectfully apologize._

 _But the way he acted that night… so presuming that we needed to sleep together before he died… That is so despicable and manipulative… maybe he is better off dead…_

 _How can you think that?!_

 _Some people need to be put out of their misery._

 _Jesus Christ, Meredith. It's not like he's gone rabid. Mark probably felt feelings for you before and didn't feel right in acting on them until he started reaching this point of desperation and rash decision-making… Maybe he didn't realize that his chance for you had passed and that you were too smitten with Olivia to feel for him that way anymore… Crushes fade with time. It happens._

I held my sides. _Perhaps that is right… I can understand the possibilities why… but that doesn't make it hurt any less that he would try to… I have every right to be angry. I told him no and he chose not to listen._

 _He's probably ready to apologize by now… you've both had time to cool off._

 _Even then, I doubt we'll be the same…_

 _Probably right about that. I mean that was the general expectations of Arkham City… Things never being the same._

I nodded. And the Lacrimosa section ended with and almost bittersweet Amen. I put out the remaining cinders of the fire with the liquid at the bottom of the bean cans. The baked bean cans went into the cabinets and the used fork went into the sink. I picked up the ARACHMECH and approached the open window. Seeing the sleet was gone, I used the grappling gun to lower myself down to the ground. I started walking back to Mt. Olympus. When I was close enough, I grappled up to the building and slipped in through a window by the coffee vats.

Tim's office door opened and he stood in the doorway. Bags were under his eyes and his age was starting to show in the growing wrinkles. I had never really noticed before.

"I didn't think I was that loud," I commented.

"I hear everything," Tim insisted with a soft smile, leaning in the doorway. "Grab some coffee and come to my office."

I nodded and took a cup of coffee. My stomach growled a bit, somehow still hungry. I ignored it and strolled into Tim's office, sitting in front of his desk while he sat behind it.

"You gonna yell at me?" I asked.

Tim's green eyes blinked. "Why would _I_ yell at you?"

"Maybe I'm just used to the cliché of a boss calling you into their office to yell at you?" I suggested with a shrug and a smirk.

He snorted. "I am not _that_ boss," said Tim, shaking his head. "I am not angry at you. I am worried…" Tim twirled a pencil in his fingers, thinking. "I understand your desire to run around when your heart is filled with grief and anger. I know you can handle yourself. God knows how many times you have saved each of us original drifters when you were only beginning to stand on your own… Olivia also told me about the adversities you overcame while we were retired." He smiled. "I'm proud of you, Meredith."

"Hmm." I sipped my coffee, looking away.

"I am— _we_ are here for you. You don't have to bear your pains alone and push us away."

"It's better if I hold to it alone," I insisted, shaking my head and setting my coffee down. "I am too difficult to deal with-impossible to soothe when I am depressed. The only person who came close to helping was Olivia and she is gone… If you try to help me, I only get frustrated at myself when I can't give you the perfect results you want. I have to work through my moods and phases on my own accord, or I only get worse."

"What would Olivia do to help you?" Tim asked, setting his pencil down. "Because I know you must be hurting something terrible underneath it all."

I tried to keep a steady face and bit the corner of my lip. "You can't replace her… I just need to learn to live without her."

"I don't mean to replace her… I just want to be a better friend to you."

 _Don't fucking cry._ "Just… be the way you are."

"Is it really enough?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me," I said, trying to smile. "I mean you got the whole organization to worry about… the enemies all around us in a tight space… As long as I have a home to go back to, I'll be fine I promise… It's not like I can commit suicide or anything."

Tim sat quietly for a moment and furrowed his brows. "You do think about it, though?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Not that often—I mean you can only dwell on fantasy for so long before you remember reality."

"Do you hurt yourself?"

Folding my arms, I shook my head and the urge to cry went away. "Mostly restless and not as afraid as I used to be."

"Ready to walk through hell and give it hell?" He asked.

I raised a brow at him. "Yeah, I guess."

"Have you been doing anything to further piss off our enemies while you were out?"

I shook my head. _Not that time._ "I hung out with Poison Ivy, had a civil chat with Bane, and hung out in an abandoned building until I got your message to come back."

"What did you talk about with them?" Tim asked.

I told him briefly about my time with Poison Ivy and discussion with Bane. "…but I told Bane that we'd tell him about any TITAN that we see as long as he didn't fuck with us."

Tim nodded, frowning. "That is acceptable, but next time please check with me first, Meredith."

"K," I agreed with a shrug.

"Have you been doing anything else any other time?"

I shrugged. "Not really." _Technically, it's a program._ "Look, I'm just not afraid of suicide missions anymore. I always find an escape."

"You think you have nothing to lose?" Tim asked.

"Getting there," I said, gazing outside the window. _Okay, I'm tired of dicking around. Do you really want the truth? Do you?_ "Do you want me to be horribly honest?"

"Please," Tim encouraged.

"Fine. I came to Arkham City expecting to lose everything, to have everything slowly cut away from me because of the resistance Olivia and I put up. I expect to be destroyed by the time this is all over, maybe part of me wants to be punished for failing Olivia or maybe I just learned a long time ago that happy endings weren't meant to happen for people like me… The truth is that you're probably better off cutting me out of your group because I have been passive-aggressively attacking Professor Strange with the things I have been doing in secret. Things specifically meant to target him and drive him crazy especially when no one else is supposed to know about his weakness. I am not going to stop because he deserves every bit of the mockery after all the horrible things he has done. You'd have a better chance of surviving without me at this point. I am just a black hole that just sucks other friends into my failures, destroying them in the process. I'm not worth saving because I am a failure that's never going to fucking die." I looked Tim in the eyes. "I am such a failure to myself and others that I can't even die to make the humiliation stop! I deserve every cut and bruise I get. Just hit me and tell me to get out," I said standing up as tears ran down my face. The pain in my heart swelled, making me wish I could cut it out already.

"I'm not going to hit you, Meredith," said Tim, shaking his head. "You're in enough pain already."

Tears ran down my face. "I deserve it."

"No you do not. It's not your fault Olivia is dead, Meredith."

"Yes, it is! I failed to kill Strange! I brought a tracking device to Olivia's home!"

"You aren't a trained assassin, and you didn't know one of the bullets was a tracking device… You know what Olivia would tell you, right now?" Tim asked, standing up.

"What?" I scathed at him.

"Love yourself."

Tears cascaded down my face. "I can't… I can only hate myself less when I forget about how much of a failure I am."

Tim walked around the desk and put his hands on my shoulders. "But you're not a failure, Meredith."

I gazed at my feet. "Yes I am."

"Olivia's death was an accident that you didn't cause, Meredith. Without you, the rest of us would be dead."

"Prolonging the inevitable. You will all die and leave me like I deserve."

Tim held me tightly to his chest. "You don't deserve to suffer, Meredith…I once thought these things, too. I believed that my past with the League would drag us all down... All these treasured times with all of you was just bait to lead me to a horrible end that would never allow my soul to find inner peace. The slaves suffer for the pleasure of the masters, hungering for a crumb while they gorge 'til they burst. I was born in misery and would've died in it but together, we changed the tide in our lives and felt joy of friendship and the satisfactions of greed. No matter what happens to us, no one can say we never lived. You have to take the happiest joys in your life and let them grow stronger than the sorrows that never leave… Is it better to have not known us at all?" Tim asked.

I turned my head to the side so I could speak. "Maybe… if I'm only to end up in the same miserable pit where I began."

"But you won't," said Tim. "You are so much stronger than where you began."

" _She_ was my strength," I said with a sob. "She was everything! She did everything!"

"Olivia didn't create you. She did not fight Deathstroke," said Tim.

"I only won because of that stupid book." I struggled to push him away.

"Killer Croc and an army of Penguin thugs?" Tim held onto me.

"It was a draw."

"Clayface?"

"He had us on the run until Batman and Robin jumped in."

"The Abramovici twins?"

"Mr. Hammer had me on the run and I used Mr. Freeze to beat Sickle." I pushed out of his arms and looked at the window.

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Tim asked, exasperated.

"I told you I'm difficult," I said, folding my arms and sniffing. "I wouldn't be able to do half those things if it weren't for what you taught me."

"Not everyone is able to learn and hold to their courage in a real fight."

"All I have to fear is pain," I said.

Tim stepped up to me. "We're here right now. I don't know for how long, but I would treasure every last moment I have… so I will." He held my face in his hands. "No matter what happens I love you so much, Meredith," he said with a tight voice. "I will never ever call you a failure because you are not a failure."

I tried to protest.

"Hear me, Meredith!" he said, stronger now. "You are not broken. You are not a defect. You are not bad. You are good. You are amazing. You are wonderful. You have wisdom beyond your years, have carried grown men on your back, fought against terrifying monsters, laughed in the face of evil, shown kindness in the worst of times, defended prey against predators, and inspired others to be better than what they thought capable. You are beautiful!... I am not your father, but please know from the bottom of my heart that I am so proud of you and love you for all that you are like a father. Every person that said a horrible thing about you is a shallow puddle of oil and piss that have no business telling you if you're a success or failure because you are a miracle, Meredith Storm. Love yourself, not because others think well of you, but because you are more than well."

Shaking, I leaned my head into his chest, still crying. I put my arms around him, hardly any strength left in me.

"Ra's al Ghul can't hold a fucking candle to the joy I have known," said Tim, leaning his head against mine.

I chuckled, bemused.

We held onto each other for a good while. As we let go, Tim wiped tears from my face, smiling at me subtly. "If you have to keep targeting him to feel better, do it, just try not to get caught. It tends to madden a person more when they never find out who is targeting them."

I nodded and smiled. "I'll try." I hugged him again, tighter.

He chuckled, a little surprised, hugging me back.

The door opened. "Hey, Tim—

I looked at the window glass and saw it was Mark.

"Should I come back later?" Mark asked, clearing his throat.

I wiped my face and let go of Tim. "I'll leave."

"You just got here," Tim said, shaking his head.

"I mean I'll grab something from the kitchen and talk with Helen and Roy."

"Oh, all right."

"Speaking of which, have you talked to her about taking a duty instead of running around like a lunatic?" Mark asked Tim, avoiding eye contact with me.

 _Lunatic… wow… time to cool off my ass…_

"I'm a scout," I said to Mark with narrowed eyes, "willing to go places where most people get shot. If so requested, I will walk over to Sionis' Mill and give the real Joker a knuckle sandwich for breakfast."

Mark folded his arms. "It's past lunchtime."

"Never heard of breakfast for dinner?"

Mark looked at Tim, ignoring me.

"She's a scout," Tim agreed with a nod. "Meredith is the most capable, and I wouldn't make her do anything at all since she's the reason why we started with a fully-stocked, hiding place in the first place. We discussed this earlier, Mark."

"Well I don't remember!" Mark insisted, annoyed and twitching a bit.

"Meredith, if you please?" Tim asked.

I stepped past Mark and closed the door behind me. _Fuck apologies if he's gonna act like that._

As I walked down, some people stopped and stared as I walked by. A few whispered to each other. Occasionally, I heard them say 'Queen of the Mile'.

 _I'm hardly a Queen…_

A scant few said hello or nodded as I passed along. I found Helen and Roy in the makeshift kitchen, cleaning up, preparing the upcoming meal, and organizing rations. Lucy was sitting down in a corner, picking at a partially broken violin.

Helen smiled. Roy nodded.

Lucy gestured me over. "Ayyy, where have you been, Queen of the Mile?"

"Here and there," I said with my hands in my pockets. "Spent some time with Poison Ivy."

"No poison ivy in the kitchen," said Roy, pointing a ladle at me.

"Poison Ivy is a person, Papa," said Lucy, rolling her eyes. "Plus, it is sleeting and fucking cold outside. Plants can't handle the weather right now."

Roy frowned. "Still, don't touch anything, Kiddo. A name like that doesn't bode well in my kitchen."

"Just to be safe," Helen encouraged, pushing her silver-blonde hair from her face. "You hungry?"

I nodded. "Please."

"I'll heat something up for you." She picked up a bowl.

"Thank you." I stood by Lucy.

"But you and Poison Ivy are _friends_?" Lucy asked, frowning.

I frowned. "Well, I'm not sure if we're _best_ friends, but we're friends that occasionally exchange favors. We hung out and had a couple magic mushrooms."

"Fun… how are you feeling?"

"Distant yet here," I said, sitting on the floor. "I'm not sure I'll ever have a civil conversation with Mark without wanting to knock him out."

"Yeah," Lucy sighed, "a lot people have been talking about it. Rumors that you're a drama queen and that he's a crazy creeper, but I know better."

I shrugged. _I don't care what these punks think about me._

"Back in my day, we settled nasty arguments with a grudge match," said Roy, shaking his head. "Not chittering around like a bunch of goddamn squirrels."

"But those were between two men, Roy," said Helen, shaking her head. "Not a man and a woman."

Roy folded his arms. "Have you heard half the stories Hotshot told to explain why she's okay on her own?"

"Women don't fight and walk away as friends like men do."

"I say she's Tomboy enough. I mean look at her. If Mark can swallow his pride and respect that…"

They looked over to me and I frowned. "What do you mean by grudge match?" I asked.

Roy grunted. "You basically beat the shit out of each other until you aren't mad anymore."

Lucy shook her head. "Eh… it wouldn't be fair with Meredith's specialness and Mark's handicap."

"Yeah, I don't think it would work either," I said, shaking my head. "He'd only hate me more for kicking his ass and embarrassing him in front of everyone."

"He would refuse to hit her," said Lucy.

"So he can say nasty shit behind her back, but he can't hit her?" Roy asked, grimacing. "Fucking hell."

 _Motherfucker._ "Wait, what is he saying about me?" I asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, what most cock-blocked guys say," said Lucy dismissively. "He's just too tired and cranky to admit he was wrong."

Helen walked over with a bowl of soup.

"Thanks," I said, absentmindedly stirring the soup. I felt my temper stirring up in my gut. "Maybe we _should_ have a grudge match." _Knock some fucking sense into him._

"Just because he's saying stuff that no one believes?" Lucy asked, raising a brow.

"It would help me hate him less," I said before drinking my soup. It was a little hot, but I didn't care at this point. _Too angry._

"Come on, you wouldn't hit him," said Lucy.

"Wanna bet?" I asked with a raised brow.

She shook her head. "He's not gonna agree to it."

"I'll talk to him," said Roy with a nod.

"Meredith will end up murdering Mark," protested Lucy, "and Tim won't allow it."

"I'm not gonna kill him," I retorted. "Just rough him up."

"Come on, the last man that touched you was cut to pieces."

I stood up. "That man was a monster. Mark isn't like that. He just needs some fucking sense knocked into him. I mean what the fuck, Lucy! You just said that I wouldn't hit him. Now you think I am going to full on murder him?"

"I know you're angry for good reason, but you would be beating up a terminally ill man who didn't mean to do what he did."

I narrowed my eyes. "You've threatened to kill people for less. I thought you would understand."

"I'm not who I used to be and you aren't that person either. You are better than this. You fight people like that."

"You know nothing about me!" I growled. "I don't just take abuse and cower in a corner. Not anymore. If _he_ wants to chicken out, he can. _I_ am ready for a grudge match whenever and wherever. In fact, I'll drink an entire bottle of vodka and set myself on fire if that even the odds enough for him!"

Lucy blinked and stared at me. "You are definitely a lot _angrier_ than I remember."

I took a deep breath. "I got plenty to be angry about," I said, feeling a vein throb in my temple. "I'm sorry." I stepped out of the kitchen, not looking at anyone. "Thanks, Helen."

As I swung open the door, I felt the wood hit someone on the other side. A couple of people tumbled onto the floor while a few others ran away. I narrowed my eyes at them. One of them dropped a radio that was different from what we used.

I picked it up and saw a green question mark on it. _Riddler._

The man who dropped it held his hands up. "I-I can explain… It was before I met you guys—

"And you decided to keep it for _nostalgic_ reasons?" I asked with a raised brow. "Admit it. You're a Riddler spy!"

The other person got up. "Let's throw this spy out!'

"It ain't me I swear!" The spy exclaimed. "I picked it off of someone else who had it. Told him to quit being a traitor. I thought maybe you guys could use it. I was gonna give it to you."

"Bullshit," said the other person.

Roy and Helen came over and the spy started running for it. Immediately, I took a shot at the spy with my pistol and he fell down the stairs.

We ran after him and saw I hit the back of his knee. His leg was also broken from the fall.

"Please, don't throw me out," the spy begged. "Not like this!"

Roy put his foot on the broken leg and the spy screamed.

"Sure, Son," said Roy, "but you're gonna have to tell us who the other spies are. I'm sure Hotshot will want to speak to each and every one of them."

"Absolutely, I'll give you all the spies! Stop, please!"

"Good boy," said Roy, removing his foot from the spy's knee. "Meredith, mind running him over to the church to get that leg looked at? I'll get Newt and that accountant to go with you."

"I'll take that," said Helen, taking the radio from me.

"No problem." I knelt down and splinted the break in his tibia. Quickly, I wrapped up the gunshot wound.

The spy groaned in pain.

Roy looked to the other eavesdropper. "I suggest you get back to work."

"Yes, Sir," he said, scrambling away.

Roy returned to the kitchen with Helen. "Told him there'd be spies," he muttered.

Five minutes later, Newt came running with his friend and they laid out a stretcher. "Who's he spying for?" He asked.

"Green question mark would indicate the Riddler," I said.

"Yeah, it's the Riddler," admitted the spy as we put him on a stretcher. "He offered me money in my wife's bank account. I respect you all, but I got kids to feed. Did you really have to shoot me in the fucking knee?!"

"You ran," I said, nodding to Newt and the accountant. "Let's go."

Newt and the accountant lifted up the stretcher and we walked downstairs.

"If you were in any other gang, you would be murdered on the spot," the accountant said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, that's why I picked this one," said the spy. "I'm not crazy enough to spy on someone like Joker. I mean respect this crew, but I gotta put my family first. Surely you people understand?"

"We do," I said. "But tell me you wouldn't shoot me if I sold out your family to a possible adversary."

"Riddler doesn't mean you any harm. Not like the others. He's just keeping tabs."

"In case he needs to blackmail us or sell us out. Hell, he might be trying to mess with my tech." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. _The last thing I need is that asshole up in our business… Olivia was a genius, but I would hesitate to say that's SONNY, her first android with AI, could handle a barrage from someone like the Riddler._ _The idea alone of him messing with her stuff… UGHHH... I want to wring his neck._

"Well, it's just the spiders, isn't it?" The spy asked, noticing my tension.

"Yes, but—they're O-They're mine…" I shook my head. "What sort of children do you have, Mr. Spy?"

"Six boys and a little girl. Don't hurt them."

I blinked. _I was actually going to make an analogy of how the spiders were Olivia's babies._ "N-no, I was just-I don't hurt children… Just leave my damn spiders alone. They were my partner's pride and joy." We walked out onto the water bridge and an ARACHMECH leapt on my shoulder.

"To be honest, those things kinda freak me out," commented Newt as he looked at it. "They're like artificial tarantulas but smarter. I don't know how to read them."

"She was working on giving them personalities and ways to express themselves," I said. "The original purpose was to catch household pests from lice to mice." I held out my hand to the ARACHMECH, and it crawled on and around as I moved my hand. My fingertips tapped against the tips of its fuzzy legs. Then, I set it back on my shoulder. "Olivia's creations are all that's left of her."

We continued walking to the church where the makeshift hospital was. We were stopped at the door by one of the guards. "I'm gonna have to ask you all to remove your weapons," he commanded.

I sighed and set my guns down. Newt and Nick followed suit. We went inside and the doctors took care of the spy as Newt, Nick, and myself stood by.

The spy revealed the entire network of informants within our gang. Not just Riddler ones, but others from the Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face gang. Tim promised to take care of it, and asked Roy and me to stand by while they were all rounded up on the roof, not knowing what they were in for.

"Each of you have been individually selected to prove your salt before reaching a higher rank," said Tim. "I have seen your work and know you to be very capable human beings, but I prefer to test people before taking a leap of faith."

Several of them shifted uncomfortably, probably considering the fact that we were at the highest point of the hideout.

"If your talents were discovered by other gangs as I have… they would hang you high and dry for all to see… It is understandable when betrayal is one of the most despicable crimes you can commit, even among criminals."

A few started to speak in protest.

Tim shook his head. "I will allow you to speak when I am finished. Speak out of turn before then and you will die."

They were silent.

"It takes a special talent to be a spy. I am disappointed that you would choose to spy on us, but you have a chance to change my impression here and now. If you wish to speak, this is your last chance. Please speak one at a time."

A few tried to convince Tim that they weren't spies. Others admitted to the crime and asked for forgiveness. Two called out the liars. The last remained silent.

"You have a choice," said Tim. "The leap of faith or walk of exile. For the leap of faith, you would redeem yourself by jumping off this building, swimming back to the entrance, and climbing back up the stairs to this point. In the walk of exile, you would receive a traitor's mark and walk down the stairs and immediately leave via the water bridge. You will never be allowed to return."

Some of them glanced at each other. The silent one walked over to the edge and most of them followed him. Several immediately backed away.

"Fuck that," said one man. "No one has to do this. We can walk out together and start our own group. Who's with me?"

"What's the traitor's mark?" One of them asked.

"You must cut an X into your forearm," said Tim. "Each cut will be six inches long."

"For what?" The first one asked. "To make up for your missing dick?"

I narrowed my eyes at the first one and he kissed in my direction.

A couple chuckled while others remained silent.

"Make your choice," said Tim, unfazed.

The first one glanced around. "Come on, the choice is obvious. That jump is fucking suicide. It's too high and cold.

Twelve stepped over to his side while eight joined the silent one at the edge.

"You can't be serious," said the first one.

I picked a knife from my boot and held it out to him.

"I got six inches already, but thanks, Babe." He took the knife.

"Keep talking shit and I will put a foot up your ass," I said, stepping back.

A couple guys chuckled.

"A foot, eh?" The man rolled up his sleeve and cut an x that was long as his forearm. He held it up as it gushed blood. He handed the knife to someone else and the thirteen all put an x on their arm.

"Now be gone," said Tim. "Linger and you will die."

"Yes, Sir," said the first one, taking the lead and keeping my knife. They headed downstairs and Tim turned to the remaining people at the edge. "Jump."

The silent man jumped off the edge and the others followed.

I was surprised at their gall as Tim and I looked over the edge. We counted seven of the nine swimming in the water towards the entrance. Two didn't come back up. Then, we saw them pop up and swimming slowly together.

"You sure this will work?" I asked Tim.

"The cowards have been rooted out and they will not leave Mt. Olympus alive."

I stared at Tim and he held up his radio as the swimmers reached the exit.

"Hotshot to Marksman," Tim called.

"Go for Marksman," replied Mark.

"The unlucky number is thirteen. I repeat unlucky number thirteen."

"You got it, Hotshot."

"I think it would've been better if you shot 'em all up here," commented Roy, " _after_ the jumpers went."

"I might consider it for next time," said Tim, scratching his beard. "Do they know I have no genitals?"

"I doubt it," said Roy.

"Hmm."

"It's just a stupid thing about guys bragging about their size," I said, rolling my eyes.

"The louder they squeal, the smaller they are," said Roy.

I held up my hand and high-fived Roy. We watched the swimming nine re-enter the building, and waited for the exiled to leave the building.

"The exile kind of reminds me of _The Dark Knight Rises_ ," I commented.

"What's that?" Roy asked.

"Well, it's a movie I saw back home. A city was ruled by anarchy and crimes were punished with death or exile. Exile was walking out on the ice of a frozen river. I think everyone eventually fell through the ice once they walked out far enough."

"They walked?" Tim asked, shocked. "No one spread their weight by crawling?"

"I don't think so."

Tim shook his head. "Stupid."

"There was sword fight training on ice for the first movie in the trilogy," I said. "Maybe it's all just a metaphor for walking on ice."

"Hmm." Tim seemed to be remembering something.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.

"Ice… and polar bears."

"You've seen polar bears?" I asked, surprised.

He nodded. "Soaked in blood… with eyes that are black as death… You see the scars on my head? The older ones?"

I looked, seeing some non-surgical scars. "Yeah," Roy and I said.

"A Polar Bear once grabbed me by the head. Would've killed me if my companion didn't stab it. Unfortunately, the bear grabbed him and took him underwater. They never came back up."

"Shit," I said, gazing off. "What were you doing up north?"

"Searching for a magic artifact." Tim snorted and shook his head. "But it was never found."

"You don't _believe_ in magic, do you?" Roy asked, frowning.

"Why is magic hard to believe when _you_ believe in an invisible god?" Tim asked.

Roy shrugged. "I just think there's no magic for people like you and me. Just tricks."

"There are a lot of hoaxes, but there is real magic out there. It's just hard to find."

I nodded in agreement. "Absolutely."

The thirteen came out of the building, walking onto the water bridge. After a moment of them walking along the bridge, shots were fired at them. They all started running, but they could only run so far.

Tim walked over to the door with Roy. "We'll meet our trusty ones halfway."

"If you don't need me anymore, I'll stay up here," I said.

Tim nodded. "As you wish."

I sat on the edge and gazed at the bodies as their blood made the water go dark.

"Meredith?" Roy asked, coming back.

"Yeah?" I replied, looking back to him.

"Word has it the Mad Hatter is around here somewhere."

"Yeah?"

"Would you know his location?" Roy pressed.

"Park Row," I said, pointing west. "Should I be concerned?"

"Tim keeps saying it's too dangerous, but he needs to pay for what he did to my girl."

"Mad Hatter is pretty dangerous. The last thing we need is for Lucy to fall into his clutches again."

"She wouldn't be alone," said Roy.

"I just hesitate with all prior failures in regards to vengeance," I said, turning my body sideways, "but you're gonna do what you want with or without my blessing."

"Damn straight… If you can find out his exact location, that would help us out quite a bit. I know you've done so much for her already, but that would significantly reduce the danger."

I shrugged. "Think of it as a Christmas present."

"Thank you, Meredith. I really mean it. If you ever need anything, say the word."

I nodded to him. "You're welcome."

Roy walked downstairs and left me alone to my thoughts.

I gazed up to Wonder Tower in the distance. _Am I biting off more than I can chew?_

"Your paint will arrive at dawn, Meredith," said SONNY, as the ARACHMECH crawled onto my shoulder.

"Paint?" I asked, confused. "What paint?"

"You did order a can of white paint last night while under the influence of that mushroom. Should I cancel the delivery?"

"No," I said, frowning. _But I suppose I should find some supplies for the initial graffiti._

A few days later, I was up and about in a ski mask, painting googly eyes on the propaganda billboards with Professor Strange's silhouette. The googly eyes went into his silhouetted glasses. These signs said 'Conform and Comply'. Others said things like 'Obey Order' and 'Lethal Force is Authorized'. That last one referred to disobeying TYGER orders or approaching the walls around the north, west, and south edges of Arkham City. The east side was closed in by the Gotham Bay which had security buoys armed with automatic turrets and torpedoes.

On the last sign I was working on, I was drawing a tongue sticking out of his mouth. Then, I painted in the outline of his nose and beard.

A TYGER helicopter came flying over to check me out. Jumping off, I hid on a nearby roof under some steaming vents. The spotlight moved about, trying to relocate me. I stayed close to the vent in case they were using heat vision. Then, it seemed to quickly move off to something else that involved gunshots.

Keeping low, I put the lid on the paint can and headed down.

"Meredith, Roy wishes to inform you that Mark has agreed to the grudge match," said SONNY on my shoulder.

 _Alright alright alright…_ "K," I said walking along through Park Row, hiding the can of paint in ACE Chemicals. Walking towards Amusement Mile, I felt determined about the fight.

My back grew stiff as I sensed sneaky movement around me. I looked around, suspicious, and only saw shadows darting away behind corners. All was still and quiet, especially with all the snow on the ground. It was that beautiful, peaceful quiet that was so calm yet questionable in places like this.

I kept walking, keeping my head down around the cameras. Slipping into an alley, I grappled up to the roof and saw fresh footprints going over the edge away from me. I peered over and the assassin lunged at me. Quickly, I got back and blocked her sword with my gauntlet and kicked her back. She almost went over the edge, but she caught herself.

I heard movement from all around as they all lunged at once. Quickly, I took the first one's sword, blocking and dodging the oncoming attacks. They got knocked back and completely surrounded me. Standing still, I listened intently and counted twelve attackers.

"You will pay for the lives you have taken, Meredith Storm!" One of them shouted.

I tossed the sword to the weaponless one. "There is nothing to be gained here," I warned them.

"Only your worthless life!"

"Priceless actually."

They charged at me again. I threw down smoke bombs and explosives into the corners. Dodging the attacks, I rolled with the roof collapse and went deeper into the dilapidated building.

"Stand and fight you coward!" One of them shouted after me.

I picked up a piece of rebar off the ground and waited for them to reach me in the lower floors, leaving mines in different corners. The assassins came running after me. I worked on killing them one by one, using explosives and my rebar strikes. Occasionally, they nicked me with their swords, stars, and knives but nothing was enough to slow me down. I was down to three when I started to really feel pain in some of my wounds. Grimacing in pain, I got back.

"You aren't the only one that uses poison," sneered one of the assassins.

My vision was getting blurry and dark. Blinking, I focused with my ears and heard the whiffing of their blades. I blocked fairly well, and was suddenly stabbed from behind.

I groaned as the sword ripped out of me just as quick. "How many did I kill?" I murmured, falling to my knees.

"Including today? 37."

"Damn," I commented, touching the stab wound as it quickly closed up. "You must hate me."

I sensed them surround me. The one to the left of me spoke. "All grudges shall pass with the swift blade of justice."

I stopped her blade with my hand before it went to my neck. Blood trickled down my arm. "Or until the one with a grudge dies."

The other two stabbed me the sides, and the third moved to slit my throat with her free hand.

I pulled two blades from my boots and cut two throats. Then, I blindly lunged for the third, stabbing her heart and she reciprocated.

"What are you?" She groaned.

"The insane called me the goddess of vengeance," I said. "Tell your friends in the afterlife they're dead for allying themselves with a monster."

"You're a monster."

"And _you're_ dead." I twisted my knife and finished her off. Weakly, I sat on the floor beside her body. "37 plus 3… 40. Jesus Christ. Maybe I am a monster?"

I felt ARACHMECH crawl out from my pocket. "To be fair, they did attack you first, Meredith," said SONNY.

"Not the ones that were poisoned. They were just taking care of the dead five. 40 minus 12 is 28. 28 minus 5 is 23. 23 died because they made contact with the bodies covered in a poisonous mold… unless they've mistaken 23 for something else."

"Do you regret your actions?"

I scratched my neck with a bloody hand. "Maybe… I know Olivia wouldn't… but I have a feeling that the bodies are going to keep stacking because of those first five. The five I don't even remember killing."

"You _don't_ remember killing them?"

I shook my head. "I blacked out when they stuck their foot in the door and mentioned Gotham City. The next thing I know I'm making coffee and there are bodies all over the cottage." I felt my way towards a window where I remembered a fire escape.

"Are you all right, Meredith?"

"I can't see very well now. There was a poison on some of those blades."

"Please allow me to relocate you to a safer location." The ARACHMECH locked onto my chest and grappled me over to a different building. "Sit here until your vision returns." It let go of me and I leaned back against some sort of wall and sat down.

"Can you tell me what I was poisoned with?" I asked.

"I am already conducting an analysis. What are your symptoms?"

"Sharp pain in wound areas that is spreading fast and blurry vision. I think it was meant to be lethal."

"…Analysis of poison is inconclusive, undocumented plant species."

I sighed and picked up some snow to help wash away the blood on me. "Probably some extinct species, removing any chance for a cure. What building are we on?"

"The church that is serving as a medical center. You are leaning against the back of the bell tower. Shall I send for Tim?"

"No, I'll just sit and wait. I want to be halfway decent for my upcoming fight." I sighed.

"Very well. Is there anything else you require?"

 _Something at the back of my mind._ "…Olivia _is_ dead, correct?"

"Yes, Meredith. I'm afraid so."

"She didn't program you to lie to me?"

"She did not program me to lie to you," SONNY confirmed. "In her last hours, I was specifically programmed to be consistently honest to Olivia Webber and Meredith Storm. She felt ashamed for lying to you and stated 'it was a flaw of humanity to lie to the people you trust most in order to protect them'. I am however programmed to keep information from those that lack the proper clearance by any means necessary."

"Even if they threaten my well-being?" I asked.

"Olivia confirmed as such. I hope you understand."

"I do… I just can't believe she's gone. I'm surprised she didn't take countermeasures for the military."

"The military? I do not understand."

"Wasn't it the US Air Force that took down Draco Ex Machina?" I asked.

"It was not. The plane was a privately owned fighter aircraft granted permission by Gotham City under martial law. Olivia commented that she should've expected the possibility, considering that the Batman has an aircraft vehicle comparable to a fighter aircraft—something more than capable of evading helicopters."

"Who owns the aircraft?"

"An affiliate of TYGER. By military protocol, the National Guard or the Marine Corps would be more likely to respond and investigate before the Air Force, but I understand your confusion. As effective as Draco Ex Machina was, it appeared to mostly draw attention. Professor Strange wasn't the only one to be interested in Olivia's designs."

"I'm sure," I said. "Do we have countermeasures to this?"

"Yes. Anything of importance is currently safe in the negative zone. In the case of a breach, all information will be destroyed."

"That would be sad."

"It would, but it was important to Olivia that her work was protected from the wrong hands."

"Is there a way to move the stuff somewhere else?" I asked.

"Not currently."

"That sucks."

"Olivia's death was quite unexpected. My artificial intelligence can only go so far."

"By the way, did Olivia program you to a point where you could fend off someone like the Riddler?"

"Of course. She prided herself on mocking Edward Nygma, declaring that she could build a robot smarter than that egomaniac."

I chuckled. "Have you received any attacks from him?"

"There have been several cyberattacks. I have discouraged him."

"Nice. Have there been many attempts to cyberattack or otherwise breach the negative zone?"

"Yes. The primary property is currently under quarantine. For weeks, the TYGER guard have been attempting to breach -1 but to no avail. The CIA has taken custody of Draco Ex Machina's destroyed remains, and they are also attempting to breach as well."

"Well, it can't be long before there's a breach," I said. "-1 and -2 are only so strong."

"That is why they are sealed from the rest of the negative zone and are set to explode upon breach."

"How much _more_ of the negative zone is there?" I asked, raising a brow.

"Time-sensitive information. Ask again after Arkham City, please."

I started to gain my vision back and I could see it was snowing again. _That sounds like it's a lot… I wonder why she didn't show me the rest…_

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I'm seeing okay again. Thanks, SONNY."

"My pleasure. Ending call."

The ARACHMECH beeped and went into free mode, crawling up the wall behind me.

After a long while, I got up I crossed the water bridge. A lot of people gathered around to watch the fight on the gathering floor. Roy was standing by Mark. Tim and Lucy stood by, concerned.

"How much do I have to drink?" I asked.

"Nothing," said Mark, narrowing his robotic eye.

"At least two shots," said Lucy, shaking her head.

"Stay out of it, Lucy," said Mark.

"The man wants what he wants," I agreed with a shrug.

"Since the man offended the lady first, the lady is allowed to give the first strike," Roy declared. "You will both hit each other until you no longer can. This is not a death battle. No groin shots. Just an argument settler. Begin." He stepped back.

I stared at Mark and he stared at me, waiting. Feeling my anger overcome my hesitation, I punched him across the face as hard as I could. The impact almost knocked him off his feet. He crooked his jaw and spat out blood. "Hit me again," he said.

I hit him again, knocking him to the ground. His nose was gushing blood from the break I caused.

He leapt to his feet and shouted as he threw a punch at me.

I dodged and hit him in the gut.

Ignoring the pain, Mark head-butted me and shouted in pain, holding his head. A drop of blood trickled from the bandages wrapped around his head, running down his face. He kept trying to strike me, but he was slower and clumsier than usual.

 _Okay, this is sadder than I thought it would be…_

Mark's attempts became more frantic as I kept dodging and blocking. He panted and stepped back unable to hit me.

"Hit me," I said, holding still.

"I'm trying!" Mark struck me across the face, knocking me to the ground. "Get up!"

I got up and held still.

"Not so tough are you?!" He hit me again, but I remained standing. "Have you had enough?"

"Hit me again," I said.

Mark hit me in the gut as hard as he could.

I hurled a little and spat out blood to the side.

"Hit me," he said. "You wanted this. You want me dead for what I did!" Mark hit me in the sternum and I held the spot, coughing. "Don't pity me for a second!"

"You can hit me all you want," I said. "I wish you could hit me so hard that I would die and you would no longer suffer-that you could live and not be so torn apart by your insomnia."

"But it doesn't work that way, does it? I will die while you live on!" Mark hit me across the face. "I can't sleep until I die!" He hit me with his other hand and I fell to the ground. Mark kicked my ribs.

I held my side with a groan.

Mark went to kick me again.

I grabbed his leg and swept off the other one. Quickly, I pinned him to the ground. "I don't know what else to do! You tried to manipulate my feelings for you to make yourself feel better about your life."

"I was trying to help you see you can love again!" He tried to roll us around, but I wasn't releasing his arms or legs. "I didn't want to die knowing the last man that touched you wasn't that piece of shit doctor! I wanted it to be someone who appreciated you! And you wouldn't let me do that!"

I frowned while I was on my back keeping him pinned with his back to me. "You do know there's more to life than sex, right? Hell, do you even know that sex isn't the deepest intimacy you could have, Mark?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

I released one of his arms and gently ran my nails along the side of his neck in a way that would send tingles down my spine. "Lay still with me." Slowly, I let go of him.

Mark remained still.

"Have you ever known what it was like to be able to lie with someone still and not do anything? That they are just happy with you there… Being able to tell the deepest darkest feelings that you couldn't dare to tell anyone else-but they would understand." I stroked his beard with the back of my hand. "My intimate memories with Olivia have made Dr. Giovanni such a distant memory. I've held her, lied beside her, felt and saw every inch of her body and heart. We gave each other hope that we both thought long dead." I rested my hand on his shoulder. "I know what you're trying to do, but know that the sex would be so hollow compared to what I have known. A fleeting pleasure that would feel like a cheap and ham-handed attempt at intimacy. I love you and admire you deeply because you took care of me when the rest of the world was only looking for a piece of me for their own satisfaction. To see you suddenly wanting a piece of me after all this time made me feel so sick. I thought you were different from those people… that maybe you understood that the real intimacy that I wanted wasn't so simple. You are kind and caring almost to a fault, but you only understand so much." I lied still. "Does any of this make sense?"

"I think so," said Mark.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too." He touched my hand for a moment and got off of me. "What are you all looking at?" Mark said to the onlookers. "Show's over." He left and went up the stairs.

I sat up as people left. Everyone was pretty quiet and slowly left the room.

Lucy pushed through them and chased off after Mark.

I remained sitting on the floor.

Tim held out a hand to me and helped me up, giving me a pat on the shoulder. "Perhaps there is something to this 'grudge match', Roy," Tim commented to Roy.

Helen walked up to me with water bucket and a rag, wiping off the blood on my face. "Always messy, but I'm sure Angel will know how to fix that broken nose better than anyone."

"Is there something going on between Lucy and Mark?" I asked, considering Lucy's changed behavior towards him.

Helen chuckled and dropped the rag into the bucket. "Rumor mill," she insisted. "They've just been a little closer since Angel knows how to get to the heart of grumpy, old men." She nudged Roy.

Roy snorted. "I'm not a grumpy old man. I'm just hard to impress anymore."

I smirked.

"You should probably eat something, Meredith," commented Tim, putting a hand on my back.

"Maybe," I said, touching my abdomen.

We headed over to the kitchens and grabbed some food as Roy and Helen returned to work.

"You were slower today," Tim commented, frowning to himself.

"Slow?" Roy commented, surprised at Tim's comment. "She looked like she could've danced circles around Mark all night."

"I've seen her move faster."

"I ran into a scrap before the fight," I said, shaking my head. "Ninjas," I coded to Tim.

Tim inhaled and closed his eyes.

"I told you that there are ninjas around here," said Helen to Roy, shaking her head.

"Yeah yeah. What's the deal with them, Meredith?" Roy asked, rolling his eyes.

"Think of them as a Black Ops Force of the TYGER guard," said Tim. "Very dangerous."

"So, Strange wants her dead now?"

Tim looked at me, questioningly.

"Remember the five I killed before I arrived?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I covered the five in a poisonous mold after removing their heads. Twenty some died from touching the bodies. Twelve came after me today, seeking retribution for that. Kill count is forty."

Tim furrowed his brow. "Twelve? All masked?"

"Yes."

"Hmm." He scratched his beard. "Sounds like they went against orders if it has taken them nearly two weeks to react to those deaths. With those twelve dead, they will definitely pay more attention to you. Did you fight in the open?"

"No, I led them inside a building before killing them."

"Good. They're all dead?"

I nodded. "Unless they regenerate like Deathstroke, they're dead."

"I'm going to have to ask you to wander a little less and be more cautious, Meredith," Tim said. "You need to prepare yourself in case any more attacks like that happen."

"Why _wouldn't_ they want to kill her for killing those people?" Roy asked. "I mean Professor Strange probably wouldn't give a rat's ass about Meredith's life."

"Does he know about your ability?" Tim asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so… I think he mostly assumes about me because I'm not important in the scheme of things. Strange was mostly interested in Olivia's work and pressing my buttons… seeing what I do in this environment… Unless you are an imminent danger to his operation, he's mostly just watching with all those cameras and the ninjas who can get in where TYGER cannot."

Tim gazed off considering this. "Perhaps they've been in my office…"

I stared at Tim, alarmed.

He shook his head. "I keep my old notes on me at all times."

"But if they did find them, they might hold off attacks on you, too. At least until Strange declares open season."

"I'm starting to think we're out of the loop," commented Helen, glancing over to Roy.

Roy shrugged and grunted.

"It's for good reason, Helen," Tim warned. "Meredith and I know more about these 'ninjas' than we should. Knowing the things we know is typically silenced by death. They've been erasing any trace of their history for centuries."

"Yeah, I think we're good, Babe," said Roy. "These two know what they're doing."

Helen sighed, frowning to herself.

"Let it go," Roy encouraged.

We hung around a little longer and then I headed upstairs to get some sleep.

The next day, Tim helped me train and work on my combative skills, finishing up with a run to the bottom and then the top of Mt. Olympus where we'd cool down and meditate.

I often wondered about my decisions and plans with Bat-Crazy. In the spectrum of things, it was kind of silly when I thought about it. Then, I would remember later that it was one of the few joys I had right now. Everything else felt like work… the training, the socializing, the everything, just felt hard… Sending Strange a ridiculous amount of bat shapes to drive him crazy was an odd and easy ecstasy, but an ecstasy none the less. Tim wasn't discouraging me from it either. He just asked me not to get caught, but this could only last so long. Something had to give.

On my Christmas Eve day off, I went back up to the roof, massaging my sore muscles and staring out over Arkham City. It was a real brisk and windy day outside, but I didn't mind when it numbed the pain. I heard the roof door creak open and glanced back.

A somewhat young woman approached me, walking a little stiffly. Her hair was brown and pulled back with a strip of cloth. "Hello, Miss Storm," she said with a nod. Her eyes were green and she looked ten years older than me. She had one of the orange jumpsuits.

I nodded to her. "Hi, I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"Oh, it's fine," she said, shaking her head and brushing off her jumpsuit a bit. "I'm Felicia Veritas. I run the weapons inventory—do you smoke?"

"Sometimes?"

"Well, I got cigarettes if you're interested."

"I pack my own tobacco," I said, shaking my head. "Thank you. Umm, feel free to smoke up here if it makes you feel more comfortable."

"Oh thanks." Felicia picked a cigarette out from her pocket, and I pulled out my lighter. "Thanks," she repeated before lighting up on my flame.

"No problem… Did you want to tell me something or were you just looking for a place to be alone?" I stuck my lighter back in my pocket.

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you or… someone." Felicia reached inside her jumpsuit and fumbled out a photograph.

I caught it before it flew away, swinging a leg over to the inside of the ledge so I sat sideways.

"Wow, nice catch," she complimented me as I looked at it.

"No problem." The photograph was a picture of her and a similar looking woman that was younger. This other woman made Felicia look quite plain in contrast. They were hugging each other, caught in a laughing moment.

"That's my sister Nancy… She recently became a doctor."

"Oh?" I said, surprised.

"I think she might've been taken by the Joker."

"What makes you say that?"

Felicia sighed and let out a large puff of smoke. "I'm friends with one of the snipers and she swears that she saw Nancy being taken to the Mill."

"When was this?" I asked.

"A few days ago."

I sighed. _That's a lot of time in the Mill…_

Felicia paced a little. "I know I should've spoke up sooner. I just—I get really bad anxiety about talking to higher-ups. I wouldn't have spoken at all if it wasn't this important. I can't sleep."

I nodded, understanding. "It's easier when your good friends are the higher-ups."

"Well, you're a higher-up, aren't you? I mean you're like the Queen of the Mile. The really really bold one that walked out of every bad guy's den alive and kicking ass. You're also friends with Poison Ivy, right?"

"I guess?" I replied with a shrug.

"You guess?" Felicia was astonished. "That's a ten-star badass right there. A lot of people are intimidated by you."

I shrugged again. "So you want me to save your sister?"

"If you could… please. I don't know what I could offer in return, but she's all I have in the world… I mean do _you_ have a sister?"

I shook my head. "Not blood, but close enough." I stared at the photo of Nancy and Felicia, getting a good feel of Nancy's facial characteristics. "I'll look into it."

"Thank you so much."

"I warn you though… Joker can be pretty trigger-happy... especially when he doesn't get the results he wants."

Felicia bit her lip. "What's wrong with him? I mean—other than the obvious?"

"His body is going into withdrawal from using the TITAN formula. It's slowly but surely killing him. Unless a cure is found, he is going to die in the next few months if not sooner."

"I hope so," said Felicia. "He's such a terrible man."

I nodded. "That goes without saying."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

I shook my head. "I'm just gonna grab some supplies and go." I walked over to the door.

Felicia followed. "Just like that?" She asked, surprised.

"It's not bad if you're properly geared up and fed up," I said, pulling the door open. "And I move faster alone."

"You don't have to report to anyone or ask permission?" She went inside and tossed out her cigarette.

"I just tell Hotshot Tim and do my own thing. I learned a lot of stuff from him."

"Are you two… together or anything?"

"Heh, no," I said with a smirk. "Just friends. I don't 'together' with anyone."

We walked downstairs together.

"Surely you like someone," said Felicia.

"Nope," I replied.

"Do you… swing for the other team?"

"I swing for both sides. Now drop it."

"Oh," said Felicia taken aback. "Sorry. Just making conversation, I didn't mean to pry."

I was silent as we continued down to the Hotshot floor.

"You need your photo back?" I asked, stopping.

"Keep it and come back with the real thing."

"Is there anything between you and your sister that only she would know and not tell anyone else?"

Felicia winced. "Umm… well, that's a little embarrassing. Do you really need to know?"

"Yes. Joker sometimes has a thing with decoys."

"Oookay… I'm a snaaaake, boop the snoot!" She tapped on my nose. "Do that to her and she will say 'I'm a moooouse niff the sniffler'. She'll totally rub noses with you… or she'll tell you to fuck off, Felicia."

I snorted.

"I-It's a sister thing," said Felicia, shaking her head.

"So, 'I'm a snaaaake, boop the snoot'? And 'I'm a mooouse niff the sniffler'?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. Thank you." I got off on the Hotshot floor.

"Thank you," said Felicia.

I went to grab my stuff from Tim's office. Mark and Tim were talking on the couch when I walked in. They stood up and I picked up my gear across the room.

"What are you up to?" Tim asked.

"You know Felicia Veritas?" I asked.

Tim was quiet.

"Yeah," said Mark. "She's that nice gal over in ammunition storage."

"She says her sister is one of the kidnapped doctors over in Joker's Funland," I said. "I'm gonna see if she's still alive, maybe save any other hostages I find. Need anything while I'm out there?"

"See anything extraordinary, pick it up," said Mark. "Going alone?"

"Yeah, I move faster, but if your friends upstairs could give us cover fire that would be nice."

"Just radio however many you're packing once you hit the boundary and be careful."

"Good luck," said Tim with a nod.

I nodded and pulled on my goggles and coat. An ARACHMECH perched on my shoulder. I went back out on the coffee floor to use a window as an exit.

As I reached the cranes for crossing into the Industrial District, I saw the red neon sign for the North Gotham Dock. This place was where the cryogenically frozen Nora Fries was being kept. I swung over to the building and told the ARACHMECH to plant a tracking device on Nora's tank. As it did so, I snuck up on a clown that was meandering by himself. After knocking him out, I took his clown mask and gun. I put them on and waited for the ARACHMECH to return and crawl onto my shoulder.

"Mission complete," it declared.

"Thanks." I walked along, grappling from building to building, avoiding the sightline of any gunmen and snipers. I squeezed into the mill from a tight vent and crawled around, looking around for the place Joker would keep doctor hostages. Occasionally, I walked by a few Joker thugs with my costume on and ARACHMECH hidden. Eventually, I found the storage spot where there were three doctors being held. None of them were Nancy. Two middle-aged men and one blonde woman.

 _Shit._

I approached the four clown thugs. "Hey, I'm relieving Joe," I said with my guy voice.

"Joe is in the sniping gallery, Idiot," said one of the thugs.

"Shit," I adjusted my mask. "Well, this is awkward. Could you guys maybe knock yourselves out?" I smacked two heads together and knocked down the other two guys. Then, I opened the storage room up, dragging the thugs inside. I tossed the clown masks to the doctors. "Is Nancy alive?" I asked.

"I think she's getting the hammer today," said one of the doctors. "Who are you?"

"I'm here to rescue Nancy and by extension, you. Put the masks on. Take the guns and coats."

They did as I said and I started dragging the thugs' bodies away and under boxes. I picked up a radio and led the three doctors out.

"Seriously, who are you?" One of them asked.

"Just shut up and start talking like a thug," I said, carrying a mask in my coat and leading them out the exit door.

"What's goin' on?" One of the thugs asked.

"Three doctors escaped," I announced. "We need to spread out and find 'em now!"

"Yeah!" said one of the doctors.

"Did you tell the boss yet?" One of the thugs asked.

"I sent the guys that was sleeping on the job," I said, shaking my head. "I'm not taking the heat for that."

The thugs spread around searching the place and we continued on out until we were out of sight. Then, I grappled them individually onto a safe and isolated roof.

"Wait here," I told them. I returned and walked through the front door until I found the arena where I started in. Just had to follow the womanly screams and the men shouting "Hammer! Hammer! Hammer!"

I entered the room and saw her crawling away from Mr. Hammer with a broken leg. Casually, I shot out the room's breaker to turn off the lights. Quickly, I rushed in to grab Nancy with a hand over her mouth and pulled her into the floor vents. When I got her out far enough, I whispered, "I'm a snaaaake, boop the snoot!" I tapped on her nose in the dark.

"I'm a mooouse, niff the sniffler," Nancy said rubbing her nose into my mask. "Felicia?" She asked.

"No, I'm a friend, so work with me here before they find us."

"I'll try but my leg is broken."

"Bite this glove and keep moving." I pulled her along and rushed through to reach the furnace.

Hearing a noise, I glanced back and saw a clay monster squeezing through the vents. "Fuck." I rushed out and leapt out over the furnace. The ARACHMECH helped me support Nancy's weight and swing across as Clayface formed into his monster form.

 _Wait… this furnace is practically a giant oven… or a kiln…_

"Oh God, what is that?!" Nancy cried out.

"Come and get us," I said, holding grenades behind my back.

Clayface growled with a big grin and launched himself over the fire. I threw the grenades that blasted him all over the furnace.

Carefully, I put Nancy's arms around my neck. "Whatever you do, don't let go."

I aimed two grappling guns to the top and we were launched out of the furnace. Nancy and I screamed the whole way up and out. I swung across Industrial District to where the other three doctors were… _At least, I thought there were three._ It was one guy and one lady.

"Oh thank God you're back," said the male doctor.

"Where's number three?" I asked, setting Nancy down.

"He kept saying he needed to call his wife and went down the stairs to use the telephone down there."

I face-palmed my mask. "And Victor Zsasz got him?"

"Oh, I thought that horrible man looked familiar," commented the woman. "How'd you know?"

I groaned. "Because that's how he picks up his targets here, he lures them to the telephones. Hell, he strung up a victim to look like he's talking on the phone not far from here. Did Zsasz kill Dr. Idiot on the spot or did he just drag him off to his lair?"

"Dragged him off."

"Great," I said, shaking my head.

"You're gonna save him, right?"

"Sure, but Nancy's my priority right now. I'm not risking the entire party for some idiot that broke the number one rule of survival."

"Which is?" The doctor asked, frowning.

"Never separate from the party," I declared. "Now let's splint her leg and move quickly. This place is going be lighting up quick as soon as they figured out what the hell happened."

"Okay, we need two poles and some cloth." The female doctor picked up some random steel on the roof. They fixed the break and splinted the leg. Then, I lifted Nancy onto my back.

Carrying Nancy on my back, I led them from rooftop to rooftop as the entire district was alight with gunfire and confusion. We ran across the cranes and I tore off my mask as I reached the other side. "Attention snipers, I am in a party of four escaping Industrial," I announced. The others followed suit and we continued into the Amusement Mile highway.

"There's a medical center right down the road," I said. "You can either stay there or join up with the Drifters of the Amusement Mile or some other haphazard gang."

A few shots flew out from Mt. Olympus as the snipers fired at clowns that were trying to follow us.

"We're not even supposed to be here," said the female doctor, trembling. "We're not criminals."

I shrugged. "Professor Strange don't care. He just takes what he wants. Let's see what's on the radio." I listened to the Joker radio and turned up the volume.

"Doctor, doctor, give me the news," Joker said, coughing a bit. "Maybe a doctor would give me some news if you bozos didn't let them escape!"

"You heard Mr. J!" said Harley Quinn. "Find those doctors now!"

"Jesus, they're relentless," said one of the male doctors.

"Best part is that Strange is going to keep feeding him doctors until Joker gives him what he wants," I said, shaking my head.

"How can he do this?" Nancy groaned. "How can he put civilian lives at risk with a clear conscience?"

"Like I told you. He doesn't care."

"You never said who you were?" One of the doctors said.

"Meredith Storm of the Drifters. Just keep calm and follow me."

I led them to the medical center and they followed me back to Mt. Olympus to find refuge from the Joker gang. As the sisters reunited, I set down their photograph and left them alone. Their love for each other reminded me of Olivia, which in turn reminded me of Nora. _I need to visit Mr. Freeze sometime soon, but now I gotta save that idiot that walked into the other Victor's trap._

I headed back over to the Amusement Mile, wearing a different clown mask and strolled up to Zsasz's hideout. The door was locked. I used the ARACHMECH to open the door and slipped inside. Taking off my clown mask, I walked along quietly, listening intently.

"Please, I'll pay you anything you want, please let me go!" I heard one of Zsasz's victims speak.

"Don't worry, I'll set you free," purred Zsasz, clearly ecstatic. "I'll set you all free from this existence, my little piggies."

I used the vent and continued sneaking around the hydroelectric plant until I reached the area near Zsasz and his six caged victims that were still alive. Carefully, I snuck up behind Zsasz and hit him hard at the back off his head with my side arm. He went out like a light and I picked out the key from his pocket. I quickly unlocked the cages.

"Oh thank God. How did you find me?" The doctor asked.

"Because Zsasz kills anyone that goes to the telephones, Dr. Idiot," I said, shaking my head at him. "Rule number one of survival. Never separate from the party. I'm honestly surprised that he had six of you alive." I picked up Zsasz and shoved him into a cage.

Zsasz suddenly jerked to life and attacked me. "We meet again," he said excitedly, putting his hands on my neck and pinning me against a pillar.

"Leave her alone, you monster!" One of the victims ran up and hit Zsasz over the head with a pipe, making him fall down. The others ganged up on Zsasz, kicking and beating him while he was down.

I rubbed my neck, surprised at their vigor. "Guys, I think you got him," I said, pushing them away from him as Zsasz lied unconscious and bloodied on the ground. _This is the second time an outside party intervened in a fight between him and me. It's not like I can't take him on. I could kill him easy._

"Is he still alive?" One of them asked. "Because he needs to fucking die."

"Be my guest," I said, pointing to Zsasz's knife. "If you want out of Joker's district, I suggest you follow me."

"Well, don't you want to kill him?"

"I thought I killed him the last time we met… ehh, I'm just not in the killing mood right now."

"But he just tried to strangle you!"

I shrugged. _I mean he did try to kill Dr. Cassiday and that led me into Dr. Giovanni's path… but perhaps if he never attacked Cassiday, I never would've met the Drifters when I escaped Arkham… And he's just so pathetic and unconscious right now… I kinda want him to wake up and realize his failure of losing his piggies._ "Death is a mercy." I headed on out and the others followed me.

A couple stood around, wanting to kill Zsasz, but unable to do it.

"Come on," called one of the victims behind me. "We're moving out!"

"Who are you again?" Dr. Idiot asked me.

"What rock do you live under?" One of the others asked. "That's Meredith Storm. She's that thief that nearly murdered Strange!"

"'Nearly murdered' isn't that impressive."

"Well I'd love to see you try to get anywhere that close. She put him in intensive care, Man! Was all over the news!"

"Yeah, I heard people are calling her 'Queen of the Mile' these days," another commented.

"That's usually behind my back," I said with a shrug as I picked up the clown mask at the door. "Now keep a low profile, the place is pretty lit right now."

"Lit?"

"Lit up… on the alert… crazy shit going on and people are losing their heads."

Someone screamed in the back and I saw Zsasz holding a knife to a straggler's throat. The straggler was covered in someone else's blood.

"Surrender, or I will kill this man, Storm," said Victor Zsasz.

"Come on, Zsasz, let's talk this through," I coaxed. "Is it me you want?"

As he poked his head out to speak, I shot him between the eyes with my sidearm. Zsasz collapsed on the ground and the almost-victim fell to his knees, horrified.

I put on the clown mask and walked over to the man. "Come on." I took his arm and pulled him off the ground. We all walked out and headed over to the Amusement Mile with little to no obstacles. I announced my presence to the snipers along the way.

No one spoke the whole way to the church until suddenly Dr. Idiot spoke.

"Maybe you should've killed him sooner," he commented.

"Why do _I_ need to do all the dirty work for you?" I replied. "None of you had the guts to kill him yourselves, even when he plotted to slaughter you like pigs. You knew he would never stop, but you always expect someone like me to step up and do it for you… You aren't pigs—you are sheep.

"What does that make you, Storm?" Another piped up. "A wolf?"

I shrugged. "Or… a surprisingly sneaky bear." I clicked my tongue and winked.

"How can you be so calm?" Dr. Idiot asked.

"We're in my neighborhood," I said, taking off my clown mask. "And that was probably the best shot I've made all year."

The guy I was tugging along, stopped in his tracks. "Wait, so you could've missed?" He asked.

"Well, that's always a possibility, especially when you're more of a fighter than a shooter."

He turned white. "So you shot, knowing that you might miss and kill me?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. You got lucky."

"Lucky?!" He shouted. "I'm scarred for life and probably half-deaf now because of the bullet that whizzed by my ear!"

"Well if you'd feel better dead, I can still shoot you point-blank," I suggested.

He tumbled back, startled. "Please don't, for the love of God."

"He's just upset," one of the other guys said, stepping in to defend him. "He didn't mean anything by it."

"Good," I said with a nod. "The last thing I need is someone screaming in my face. The church is right there, and I got other things to do right now, soo good luck with life." I pulled out my grappler-gun.

None of them knew what to say before I grappled away to a nearby roof.

I tracked down the Mad Hatter's location in Park Row and headed back to Amusement Mile to tell the Smith's about it.

After that, I headed over to the old GCPD station to find Mr. Freeze working on his suit. The place had many ice sculptures of Nora around the room.

I politely knocked on the frozen doorway.

In a jerky movement, Mr. Freeze picked up his freezing gun and pointed it at me.

"Easy," I said, holding up my hands.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with his monotone voice.

"Well, it's almost Christmas, and I wanted to give you an early gift," I said, setting down my bag. I pulled out a screen that showed Nora's GPS location and held it out to him.

He frowned slightly and set down his gun. "Why?... What do you want in return?"

"I'd like to see gratification on your face. That would be nice."

Mistrusting me, Mr. Freeze took the screen carefully and looked at it. "What is this tracking?"

"Your wife," I said simply.

His icy eyes met mine and stared into my soul. "You tracked down Nora and just handed me her location? Only hoping for my gratification and nothing else?"

"Yes."

He stared back down at the screen. "This is purely empathy because you lost someone special to you?"

I nodded. "Even before then, your story is just so sad and just… rare. I'm generally a cynic about the mushy stuff, but you make me turn my head and wonder if two people could actually love each other that much… I discovered that further with Olivia."

"What happened to her?" He asked.

I went into detail, explaining the events (the assassination, the tracking device, Draco Ex Machina) that led to her death that could easily be blamed on both of us. "…The artificial intelligence she built told me that her skull was crushed while the TYGER guards tried to arrest her." I put my hand over my eyes and sighed. "Every day, I get to feel the sensation of my heart trying to claw its way out of my chest… to be with her… but I will never be with her again… Take all precautions with Nora. Don't take her back until you have the power to move her while the Joker is pre-occupied with something else… Please just have a happy ending with her."

"I will do my best… Thank you… Is there really nothing you want in return?"

I frowned thinking about it. "If there comes a day when Batman needs your help, maybe help him out?"

Mr. Freeze blinked. "Batman?"

I nodded. "There is a sinister plot behind Arkham City, and unless Batman can stop it everyone within these walls will die. Help him and there will be a chance for you and Nora to get out of here alive."

Mr. Freeze gazed off. "You trust him?"

"To do the right thing? Yes."

"I will try to trust him, too, but I can't wait to take Nora back. I can't leave her in the hands of those horrible clowns. Surely you wouldn't want to just wait to take Olivia back?"

"I wouldn't," I admitted, "but it would be such a complex act to sneak her out without defrosting her... The tank is big and clunky. The security is going to be picking up more after those doctors escaped the mill. You can't just walk out with her under your arm… As long as you work on the cure, they won't hurt her because Joker's going to die without it. You have an edge on Joker as much as he has one for you. Don't do what he expects you to do or you'll play into his hands."

"Couldn't you Drifters help steal her back like you did in the museum?" Mr. Freeze asked.

I shook my head. "The only thing that could possibly distract Joker enough for it to work would be Batman. I don't expect him to be running around Arkham City for a couple months. Like February or March."

"How do you know of the plot behind Arkham City?"

"Olivia and I put the pieces together." I folded my arms.

"Incoming message," my ARACHMECH announced.

"Accept," I replied.

"Meredith, please check in at the coffee floor when you get the chance."

I sighed. "That would be my boss," I said, looking back to Mr. Freeze. "It was nice talking with you… please take my advice and wait. I'll talk it over with my friends and see if there's an angle I'm not seeing."

"I'll consider it," said Mr. Freeze.

I started heading back out.

"Wait," he said.

I turned.

"Take me to see her, so I know this isn't a trick… that she's all right."

 _He has a point there._ I glanced over to his suit and winced at its size. "There's a sneaky way in, but you would have to go as you are to get through."

Mr. Freeze frowned and considered. "Very well. I suggest you do not betray my trust."

"Okay. How do you feel about wearing a black coat lining to stand out a little less?

He grimaced. "Even in these temperatures, I overheat easily. I must go as is."

"Okay. Take what you need and let's go." We headed out the back way and I carried him across from building to building, and swung onto the platform in front of the North Gotham Dock. I kept an eye out for anyone that might see us and pointed into the canal that led inside the building. "We need to go in this way if you could make some ice," I said.

Mr. Freeze threw down some ice grenades so we could make it inside. We reached a small vent and I helped him inside. "Stay quiet," I said lowly. "If there are thugs, we take a look and get back out before talking again. Got it?"

He nodded.

I led him into the room and he gazed up through the floor grates. There were three thugs in the room. Mr. Freeze stared up at Nora unable to take his eyes off her.

I turned around as quietly as I could and waved Mr. Freeze to get back. He did so very reluctantly. When we were back out, he spoke. "You have to get me in that room without thugs, please," he hissed. "I need to analyze her vitals."

I sighed, rubbing my eyes, considering.

 _There is only three. I could kill them and drag their corpses out. I mean it would look weird to have three guys just disappear when they're guarding Nora Fries, but if there's no sign of a struggle it might look like they walked off…_

 _Or we could sneak in and pretend we're relieving them… or checking on Nora's vitals._

 _Some knock out gas would be nice._

"It's so conspicuous," I muttered to myself. "They're gonna think something's off anyway I spin it."

"Perhaps I could distract them," SONNY asked, climbing onto my shoulder. "I can lead them outside and frighten them by crawling all over them."

"Does the Joker gang know I use spiders?" I asked, considering.

"They do not as far as I can tell."

"Okay, hurry up, SONNY. How much time do you need, Freeze?"

"Ten minutes," said Mr. Freeze.

I sighed.

"10 minutes," SONNY confirmed, scurrying away to the front door.

I sighed and climbed back inside the vent with Freeze. We waited in the floor grates.

There was a knock. "You bozos better get out here right now!" said Harley Quinn's voice.

 _Wow, SONNY. That voice is spot on._

They rushed over to open the door and no one was there. "Harley?" They stepped outside, looking around.

I quietly closed the door behind them, locking it. "You're on, Freeze," I said to him as he set his bag on the ground. Mr. Freeze checked on Nora's vitals.

Then, someone screamed outside. "AH! GET IT OFF ME!"

"WHAT!"

"SPIDER! SPIDER!"

I smirked a bit and watched Mr. Freeze's progress with Nora. He opened part of the tank base and plugged into it. I kept listening outside and watching him, guesstimating the time.

I heard gunshots. "SHOOT IT! KILL IT!"

After nearly ten minutes, Mr. Freeze seemed to be done, but he seemed lost in Nora's image. He weaving a bit.

"Freeze?" I asked.

He did not respond.

"Victor Fries?" I asked.

"Nora," he murmured, before falling over and fainting.

"Shit." I ran over and closed up the base, gathering up his bag and tossing it into the vent. Freeze looked like he was having a heat stroke. I slid him into the vent and glanced around the room to see if I missed anything.

"Jesus Christ, what was a spider like that doin' out here?" One of the thugs asked.

I got inside the vent and closed it, carefully dragging Freeze out the vents.

"Hey, are you guys hearing something?"

"Probably the heater."

"There's a heater in here?"

"Yeah, but it works for shit."

I pulled Mr. Freeze out into the canal area and went back for his bag.

"Seriously, where did that thing come from?" A thug asked.

"Who knows? It's probably running back to Albuquerque or wherever they live."

"I hear spiders like that hide in bananas."

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like bananas."

I grappled the bag and pulled it back over to me.

"That noise again… It doesn't sound like a heater. It sounds like something is being dragged."

"Maybe that fucking spider found a rat, and it's dragging it back to its den to suck its brains out."

"Shut up! No, it isn't!"

Rolling my eyes, I took the bag out and saw Mr. Freeze was still lying there half awake. That tube in his chest was looking empty. I scratched my head and SONNY came back. The ARACHMECH crawled onto Mr. Freeze and analyzed him. "His temperature is -10 Degrees Fahrenheit and rising. Status: Unconscious from heat stroke."

"Great." I threw down an ice grenade into the canal. "Is the water colder?"

"It may help stabilize him."

I checked Freeze and found another full tube. "Maybe he needs one of these." I removed the empty tube sticking out of his chest and put another in.

He sighed softly. "Nora," he murmured.

"I know," I said, picking up him and the bag before hopping onto the floating ice. Carefully, I set him into the water, securing him to me and used my weight up front to keep the ice level. Then, I used my arms as oars to get us out of the canal.

I gave us some smoke as some cover as I swam along. Occasionally, I used the grappling-gun to speed up the progress of returning to the GCPD. As we docked and I pulled him out of the water, he started waking up. "What happened?"

"Heat stroke, my friend," I said as I got him inside and gave him his bag. "And that was crazy dangerous." I plucked out a few ice grenades. "Gonna take some of these in case Clayface decides to come after me. Merry Christmas and see you later." I walked out and passed out as soon as I got home.

On the night of New Year's Eve, it was time for business. I slipped away from Mt. Olympus, keeping out of sight of the cameras and avoiding the attention of any shadows or thugs.

I put on a dark blue hazmat suit and prepped the backpack tank with the glowing green chemical. "Ready, SONNY?"

"We are online, Meredith," said the ARACHMECH on my shoulder. "I am hard at work blocking the fact that this is a broadcast, matching the weather patterns and activities as much as I can."

"Excellent." I headed out and started over at the Park Row, then the Bowery, Amusement Mile, and finally Industrial. Thankfully, I only needed to fill my tank for every two districts. I was able to slip by most thugs and the helicopter spotlights, but I gained the attention of a few assassins. The rubber suit and a vacuum tank could only be so subtle. The assassins didn't approach but I knew they were watching.

 _If those assholes knew the truth, they would be all over the idea of improving Protocol 10's success._

I shuddered at the thought.

 _Jesus, I mean Batman almost doesn't stop Protocol 10 because goddamn Talia al Ghul shows up offering Joker immortality for sparing Batman's life. Alfred literally has to tell him 'no' and convince him to stop Protocol 10…_

 _Ugh! I hate what that woman does to him! How many times does she betray him? Slither up to him, batting her lashes like "Oh, Beloved" and just stabs him in the back just because he's not willing to end lives for progress like her father who is slowly losing his mind and nearly kills her several times from how many times he's used the Lazarus Pit to keep himself alive for over 600 years! Fuck off!_

 _"After that night in Metropolis, you could've just called."_

I grumbled, shaking my head.

"Are you all right?" SONNY asked inside my suit.

"Yeah." I focused on what I was doing on an Industrial District Wall. _Just two more to go. No need to get worked up over the Treacherous, Tight-Pants Talia._

 _Ooh, nice alliteration…_

 _Thank you._

 _We could also call her Ta-Ta Talia because beeeewbs._

 _Pfft. No one uses that word anymore. Tata. That's so childish. Also her boobs are average._

 _Mama's tatas._

 _Okay that's enough._

I moved on to the second to last spot.

 _She's just a pretty face with a slightly curvy body and killer instincts. I hate her._

 _Remember how she was practically blonde in the Arkham City game? Her hair reminded you of Alice in Wonderland._

 _Yeah, what was up with that? In the other mediums her hair was usually black or a really dark brown flopped over the side of her face._

 _Who knows? Just giving her a new look? Let's think of anything else._

 _Catwoman's suit from Batman TAS is the best skin in the Arkham City game… Not only nostalgic, but it looks great!_

I smiled a bit and started spraying on the wall.

 _By our opinion anyways._

 _What was the best Batman suit?_

 _Eh, the original for the game is fine, but the Batman Beyond suit is fun to look at; though, I definitely miss the cape._

 _Man… all these years and I still remember those details._

 _Enjoy this while you can because after Arkham City you're pretty much blind. Didn't play Arkham Knight because you wouldn't get a PS4._

 _I don't know how many games I'm going to buy for this console before they upgrade to a PS5. I wasn't sure if it was worthwhile or not. I should've just broke down and watched a walkthrough so I would at least know what happened._

 _The solution is simple. Get the fuck out of town._

 _Yeah, that was sooo simple to do for Arkham City… only to get called back by the League of Their Own. Pfft._

I finished off the symbol and headed to the last spot where there was a bunch of clown thugs right where I wanted to go.

 _You motherfuckers, I am so close!_

 _Just use the rest of your smoke bombs and switch to heat vision, it's fiiine. Lose the thugs and the ninjas. Swim the rest of the way, drown the tank into the water, and go home._

I threw down my smoke bombs and quickly leapt down to spray the wall. The thugs shot around aimlessly, confused and freaking out. I did a few quick sweeps and slipped into the water, drowning the tank and swimming underwater for as long as I could. When I needed a breath, I tried to breathe as softly as I could until I swam under the highway. I swam above water under the safety of the highway and climbed out by the church.

Suddenly, I saw Batman running by while being chased by TYGER guards.

 _Uh-oh._

I rushed to assess the situation on the rooftop to see if I could help.

 _If I hurried, I could intercept him and pull him into the sewer section in front of the confiscated goods vault._ Quickly, I grappled over to the west side of Park Row and kept out of sight as best as I could. When I caught sight of him, I called him out as he reached a nearby roof.

"Batman!" I opened the cover, waving him in.

Batman dove down into the hole, and I followed before anyone saw. Removing my mask, I nodded to him and led him through the sewers. We reached an intersection and I stopped him. Casually, I picked up my ARACHMECH. "Signal disruptor activate."

It whirred and Batman winced.

"Sorry, needed to be done. Now give me your cape and cowl."

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"It's the only way. If you walk out wearing that, you'll never make it out alive. You need someone to draw their attention so you can escape. Now hurry, please."

"And what if you're caught?" He asked.

"If you die, we all lose. Now please!"

Reluctantly, Batman took off his cape and cowl. I handed him my jumpsuit and ski mask to put on over his suit.

"What is Protocol 10?" Batman asked.

"It's where all the prisoners in Arkham City die, but it won't happen until the night Bruce Wayne is taken into Arkham City," I explained. "Didn't Olivia tell you?"

"She died before she could finish."

 _Oh God… Is that why she's dead?!_

"Why is Strange doing this?"

"To prove he's better than you," I said. "He's terribly obsessed with you to the point of wanting to become a greater you." We heard noise down where we came. "I'm going to head east." I said lowly. This will guide you." I handed him the ARACHMECH. "Good luck." I patted his arm and ran down the tunnel with the cape trailing behind me.

Panting, I climbed up the ladder and opened the lid to get out. I navigated towards the Monarch Theatre, hiding in the shadows. Then, a helicopter light shined upon me and started shooting at me. Reinforcements started coming all around, forcing me into Crime Alley where Batman's parents were shot to death.

 _Hehe, ironic. Strange must be tickled to death._

The guards shot me down as I tried to grapple out. I fell down to the ground with my cape covering me up. Carefully, I picked out my smoke bombs and grenades from my bloodied guts.

 _Those rounds really really hurt… If I were normal, I would be instant dead._

"Retrieve the body," said Strange's voice over a TYGER radio.

Someone nudged me over with their foot and I scattered live grenades and smoke bombs. "Happy New Year," I said weakly with a big grin.

"DECOY!" shouted one man.

"GRENADES!" Several men shouted before they were blasted to pieces in thick smoke. Quickly, I got out of there through a stage door and cut through the theatre, bleeding heavily and limping along. I rushed over to ACE chemicals to hide and locked the door. I only reached two flights of stairs before I collapsed on the floor. My blood dripped through the grated walkway and onto the main floor, forming a puddle. Coughing, I rolled onto my back and let the cowl fall off my face.

 _There was something about those expensive bullets that hurt worse than usual. I'm almost surprised I was able to walk away. My insides feel like shredded pork…_

I smiled to myself as I heard fireworks from the city. "Happy New Year," I muttered to myself. I chuckled and giggled, tearing up from pain and deliriousness.

Then, I realized someone else was laughing with me and I went quiet. It sounded like the Joker. _Ohhh no…_

I sat up weakly, holding my sides. Looking up, I saw Clayface Joker upstairs, leaning on the rail as he laughed.

"Please, don't mind meee," he said, grinning down at me.

I coughed up a bit of blood. "What do you want?" I asked with a strained voice.

"I came to see who had the obsession for bats," he casually slid down the stair rail. "Imagine my surprise when you walk in wearing Batman's cape and cowl… Say it ain't so, Storm. You can't be the new Batgirl?"

"Please," I said, picking an ice grenade from my back pocket. "I'm not that much of an idealist."

"Then I suppose you won't mind when I tell you that all your Drifter friends are all going to die."

"What?" I asked, startled.

"I'm afraid so." Joker tapped his eyes with a handkerchief. "I mean how long did ya think you could play Robin Hood before the Sheriff of Nottingham decided to set the forest on fire?"

"What the hell are you talking about? The place is fortified."

"Penguin is infiltrating your Mt. Olympus and unleashing TITAN, sure to send the thieving gods to Tartarus in pieces. How many are inside? At least 100?"

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"To make you feel all the more helpless when you realize you can't save them, let alone yourself." Clayface-Joker came closer as I struggled to go up the steps. "So relax, take a Joker bath..." He indicated to the vats. "It does wonders for your skin and puts a smile on your face." Clayface-Joker howled with laughter and reached to grab me.

Shrinking in horror, I threw an ice grenade at him and grappled upstairs to get at a safe distance. Shaking, I pulled out my radio and called out to Mt. Olympus. "Attention. Attention. This is Meredith Storm! Penguin is sending thugs with TITAN inside the building. I repeat! Thugs with TITAN in the building! Try to drown them and hit them with the hardest weaponry you can manage. They are bullet proof and mindless masses of muscle that will stop at nothing to murder you all!"

"We hear you, Meredith. Are you okay?" Roy asked.

Clayface broke out of the icy prison in his large clay monster form. He growled up to me with his wide and dripping mouth. The mass started climbing upstairs at a rapid rate.

"I am not. Godspeed." I ran upstairs as quick as I could to reach the roof. As I touched the door, Clayface grabbed my ankle and pulled me back. I grabbed onto one of the stairs and set off more ice grenades in his face. Clayface flung me backwards across the room, making me cry out in fear. I grabbed onto a rail and it broke. Quickly, I grabbed onto the next one and pulled myself onto the catwalk.

Clayface leapt and smacked down across the way from me, dripping all over the rail. He flung clay at me. I leapt out of the way. Then, I grappled back upstairs. He threw a big clay fist at me and I splat into the wall, losing grip on my grappler-gun. The clay dried up and held me in place as Clayface slithered up to where I was.

I flexed and struggled to get out of the trap.

Clayface chuckled at me and extended his arms, covering me completely in clay and taking me inside him. I struggled to escape as I started losing air. Managing to find the pins on my grenades, I blindly pulled them, not sure if they were frag or ice.

As I started suffocate in the clay, Clayface was suddenly frozen and blown apart into many icy pieces. I coughed and took deep breaths to recover from that unpleasant experience. Glancing around, I saw that Clayface wasn't getting up for a while. Groaning, I went to the chemical shower and washed off the clay. I felt so sick. Then, I heard banging at the main door that was always blocked.

 _TYGERs._

I vomited a little and struggled to climb up the stairs to reach the roof. _Get out of here and you can rest in a makeshift hiding place… Hide in the snow. Hide anywhere._

As I neared the top, I turned as I heard a noise. I saw Clayface-Joker right behind me.

My eyes widened and my heart stopped. _Goddammit._

"Bath time," he shoved me over the edge.

As I fell, I stared up at Clayface-Joker as he laughed, but I couldn't hear him. I could only hear the clamor of the main doors swinging open. Then, I splashed into the chemical vat.

Everything was on fire. My eyes burned out of my sockets. I couldn't help but scream but the it only came out as a sickling hiss in my ears, making my throat burn. _AAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!_

Feeling the bottom, I immediately pushed up to the top in spite of the pain movement caused. _GETOUTGETOUTGETOUUUUUT!_

I crawled out only able to hiss and croak in pain as I flopped out on to the floor. _Blind! Can't speak!_

Weakly, I crawled reaching around for anything. I felt sharp pains in my side and collapsed on the floor. There were rumbles of footsteps and I felt pressure on my scalp before someone ripped the skin off my head. My vision started coming back and I saw the cowl hanging above my head with my skin, dripping on me with my blood. Shaking violently, my voice came back enough to let out a hoarse scream before vomiting and passing out on the floor.

I saw light flashing in my eyes. My vision focused enough to see Professor Strange around the lights.

"You're awake? Good," said Professor Strange, seeing my moving eyes. My eye lids were back.

Hearing a hum, I screamed in pain through my teeth as an electric shock went through my body. All my joints tensed up and I felt the agony of my still healing body. The skin was still growing back on my head. Then, the shocking stopped. I fell flat on whatever I was strapped down to.

Strange walked around me. "I thought I had you figured out… that in spite of your anger you would do anything to protect your friends… but that isn't true, is it? Since you have gone out of your way to aggravate me further with your games. Pretend you know nothing, feigning innocence, when you know a great deal more than most would expect."

I felt a shock again and gritted my teeth, trying not to scream.

"When you hide abilities beyond belief," he added.

I breathed shallowly. "It's not hard to believe," I said with a sore throat and my partially-reformed, cracked lips. "Men like you can't see past their ego." I winced, feeling pain as I spoke.

Strange snorted softly. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out it was you?"

"Well, you didn't catch me until I fell into that vat of chemical waste." I screamed again as another electric shock passed through me.

"How did you know?" Strange demanded.

"Know what?" I asked, breathing weakly.

"Don't make me ask again, Meredith."

"I can't answer your question if I can barely comprehend what we are talking about."

He held up an evidence bag over my face. "This." It was one of the bat symbols. "You've been sending them non-stop. Then, you put up more in front of every camera in Arkham City. You even helped _him_ escape by taking his cape and cowl!" Strange flung the evidence back down.

"And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for that meddling Clayface," I said with a chuckle.

"You think this is funny?" Professor Strange growled.

"Hilarious. You're so angry." I laughed and coughed. "You aren't even questioning the fact of why Clayface is here. You're just so focused on how I know you're obsessed with Batman."

"Who told you? Nygma?"

"Mayyybe." I giggled.

"Where is he?!" Strange growled. "WHERE IS NYGMA, YOU STUPID GIRL?!"

I chuckled softly a bit startled. "It's only as big of a deal as you make it. Where I come from, people love to dress up as superheroes."

"You think this is a game?" A vein started to throb in Professor Strange's purple forehead as he gritted his.

It suddenly dawned on me how angry he had to be right now.

 _I think his head is going to explode…_

 _You better just guesstimate where Nygma is and hope he calms down._

 _Why was I in such a giggle fit?_

 _The chemicals it must've went to your head and you're also dangling over a mental breakdown._

 _Ohh, I feel so dazed. Is this even for real?_

I blinked and started feeling so cold, drowning.

Professor Strange slapped me across the face and brought me back, calming down a bit. "You will tell me where Edward Nygma is or I will destroy you."

"Who is to say you wouldn't destroy me no matter what I told you?" I asked. "I know the most critical weakness about you. I know the horrors you've done and I spat in your face."

"You can bring Nygma down with you… Was he some sort of friend of Olivia's? Some secret comrade?"

"Please, she shut his ass down for snooping around," I said weakly. "I just sometimes see right through people… but have at him if you want. I think he's somewhere by the Iceberg Lounge, probably feeding off Penguin's power grid."

"Did you tell anyone else what you knew?"

I shook my head. "I only told Olivia… and she's dead."

Strange stepped back behind me where I couldn't see. "We'll see about that," he murmured.

"What are you doing?" I groaned.

"Since you've learned so much about me… I think it's time I learned the truth about you, Miss Storm."

I winced. _I do not like the sound of that._

"I think it's time you and I became good friends."

"I've played Mad Hatter's mind game before," I sneered. "You can't beat me in my own mind."

"My 'game' as you might call it is much different from Mr. Tetch's mind control. I do not try to force a magical world into your mind. I use what is already there in your head." Strange touched my temples with cold hands. I shrank. "I find your insecurities… your dreams… your fears… and use them against your will until you are clay in my hands. Consider it a form of aggressive therapy for those who still have a trace of sanity left in them." His hands went away from my head and he stuck me in the neck with a needle.

I grimaced and clenched my fists, unable to fight this.

"I'm sure you will fight… and fight hard… but underneath it all there is only so much strength… so much energy… before you break…Then, I will know I can trust you and will finally uncover the truths of Meredith Storm."

My vision started going dark.

 _I was running in a desert with swirling winds and roaring thunder. Tripping over a horse skeleton, I rolled down a hill. There were snakes all around. I saw an ancient, obsidian temple in the distance and ran for it, seeking shelter. Guardian statues made of stone stood around the temple, killing anything that got near with spears. As I approached, two guardians kneeled, letting me pass by and run into the temple as the earth started quaking._

 _The inside was lit with torches and I saw a trailing cloak disappear around the corner. I chased after it in this labyrinth-like place with golden ladders, many stairs, chests, tombs, and just so many things. Despite all the interesting treasures, I knew my priority was the cloaked figure._

 _Eventually, I reached a balcony of sorts where the cloaked figure stood, gazing out over the storming battlefield. The sands were rising as the distant mountains drew closer. Much to my horror, I realized that the mountains were actually gigantic fingers, closing in at all sides._

 _I looked to the cloaked figure and pulled at their hood. The hood fell and it was a skeleton face with sad-looking sockets. It looked at me with its sockets and let the rest of the cloak fall. The skeleton was well dressed in a three-piece black suit that had elegant blue accents._

 _I looked to the suited skeleton and then up to the giant fingers as they closed around the temple. Scared, I stepped back and reached a strange seal that lit up in response to me. Its light spread to every crack in the temple and created a shield against the fingers. The fingers struggled against the force of the shield and I struggled to hold the shield up. Everything was so dark in contrast to the light._

 _"Am I dying?" I asked the skeleton_

 _"Of course not," he said calmly with a deep, enigmatic voice, leaning against the stone ledge. "You know you cannot die in this world, Meredith."_

 _"Aren't you Death?"_

 _"I am… but your mind could also be thinking of me as a personification of your innermost desires."_

 _"If I'm not dying, why are you here?" I asked._

 _"A part of you is dying, Meredith, and I have come to collect it."_

 _Tears ran down my face. "And you're just going to leave the rest of me to suffer?" The weight of the giant fingers pushed me down to one knee. "Just collect me piece by piece until there's nothing left?"_

 _Death sighed and knelt down by me. "I would take you for all that you are, Sweetheart, but life will not let you go yet." He wiped my tears away with his thumbs. "I can only give you the coldest comfort that one day we will meet again and walk away together in true eternity where there is no pain."_

 _I fell to my second knee under the weight of the fingers that were slowly crushing my world. "What is dying in me?" I asked. "My free will?"_

 _"No. Your free will is going to rest as your mind closes its eyes to the machinations of Professor Strange. Your soul is weak from the influence of those drugs, the torture, and his constant prying. Hours, days, weeks…"_

 _I groaned under the weight and struggled to get a leg back up. "No."_

 _Death smiled in his own way. "Obviously your free will is still there."_

 _"What am I losing, Death?" I asked, my back bending under the weight a bit._

 _Death's smile faded. "Memories, Meredith... Memories."_

 _I struggled to push up and fell flat on the ground under the weight. I heard glass break. Everything went dark as the light started flickering slower and slower, burning out._

 _"Death?" I murmured, feeling all my energy fading out of me._

 _"Yes?" Death whispered._

 _"Why is Life so cruel?"_

 _"Life is everything. Death is nothing."_

 _"You aren't nothing, Death," I said, sad he would say that._

 _"Nothing is neither negative nor positive, Meredith. There is nothing wrong or right with it. Nothing at all."_

 _He stroked my scalp gently. I closed my eyes, oddly comforted by his words._


	11. Chapter 11: Take the Pain Away

CHAPTER ELEVEN: TAKE THE PAIN AWAY

 _I awoke on a concrete floor, smelling blood in the air. It was dark all around, but I was hearing movements. There was breathing. I stood up and gazed around, trying to sense what was out there. Red eyes suddenly lit up all around._

" _Take the her down."_

 _I heard gunfire and ducked down, trying to avoid the bullets._

 _TYGERs hunting me in the dark? Why?_

 _I rushed around, struggling to take them all down by any means necessary. Breaking necks, shooting blindly, slitting throats, and throwing bodies to frighten them. When they were all down, I picked up some night vision goggles and looked around. I couldn't see any doors. There was one vent above me, but it was too high. I struggled to bring the bodies together to stack them high enough for me to reach. There were so many corpses. I completely lost count, but I managed to reach the top. My body dripped with blood and sweat. Most of it wasn't mine. I struggled to pull on the vent but it was too fortified for me to open with my bare hands._

 _There was a sudden and rushing noise. It sounded like water—_

 _Cold water poured out of the vent at a high speed. It knocked me and the stack of bodies down, quickly filling up the room. Most of the bodies were floating and taking up space on the surface._

 _Running out of air… They're testing me. Seeing how my body reacts._

 _There's nowhere to go! The only way out is through the water's spouting point._

 _I dove down trying to find anything to go off of using a flashlight. There had to be some form of drainage for this room. I found the center had some closed drains. One had a body stuck in it. I struggled to pull it out._

 _I need more air._

 _No time! Pull! Pull!_

 _I choked on water and the drain came open, starting to empty the chamber. The bodies were coming down with the water and started clogging the drain up. Idly, I tried to push them away from the drain, but I was losing consciousness. It was sucking me down, too. Air. Air. Air…_

 _I pulled the grate apart and got sucked down with the water…_

Tim woke up to the sound of everyone shouting on the radio at once. _Something about titans?_ He quickly got up and stepped out into the main area. There were rumblings in the building and he heard the roars of a ferocious monster downstairs.

Tim quickly ran down with a fire ax and an arsenal of weapons on his armored vest. He saw people running away and shooting at a gargantuan monster-man, swollen with muscle like Bane. There was a Penguin mask on the monster's face. It charged at Newt and yanked him up into the air.

"Hotshot, what's your status?" Mark asked over the radio.

Tim jumped up on the monster's back and hacked its muscly head off with the ax before it could crush Newt in its grasp.

The beast crumbled to the ground with a great thump, sending Newt into a corner as his arms flung back.

"I am by the coffee floor," said Tim on the radio as he walked up to Newt. "I think I just killed one of those TITAN monsters Meredith was talking about."

Newt groaned, holding his sides. "I don't think my ribs were meant to make that noise."

Nick the accountant came running to Newt's aid. "Oh God, are you all right?"

"TITAN monsters?" Mark asked over the radio.

"Yes, they are resistant to gunfire and extremely strong," said Tim.

There was a big rumble. "Gotta use explosives!" Roy shouted over the radio. "Bust them out through the walls. They can't swim!... I need some help down here. We're getting slammed!"

"Don't worry, Papa! We're coming!" Lucy replied over the radio.

"Mark, have your snipers maintain their position upstairs and keep anyone else from coming in!" Tim called on the radio. "Mt. Olympus! This is a Penguin gang attack. Anyone unable to fight must escape upstairs or to the discussed evacuation points! Radio Tower, what's your status?"

"We're getting hit, too! I don't know how much longer we can handle them!" A Radio tower operative replied.

"Use your explosives and drown them. Send someone over to the toy factory to get Bane. We need all the help we can get!" Tim looked to Newt and Nick. "Go upstairs and keep these beasts from getting any higher, using the ammunition in my office."

They nodded and headed up.

"What do we do?" The remaining men on the floor asked.

Tim pointed after Newt and Nick. "Go with them. The snipers are our last line of defense. If they go, the entire building will be compromised! Nick, you're in command!"

"What about you, Sir?" Nick asked.

Tim was already running down the stairs past escaping Drifters running upstairs. A TITAN monster was right on their toes. Tim lunged at it, kicking it in the face back downstairs, tumbling down with it. When they reached the landing, he hacked it through the skull. As it died, Tim put his foot on its face and struggled to pull his axe back out.

Another started coming up the stairs with a growl. Tim quickly pulled out a grenade and threw it at the beast's mouth. It caught the grenade with its teeth and crushed it in one bite before it could explode.

 _My God…_

"Tim, move your ass!" Lucy shouted a flight above. Tim saw a bazooka in her arms. Quickly, he dove past the monster's legs as it came running at him.

As Tim turned to look back, the monster was turning to look at him when it got blasted through the wall by the force of the bazooka.

"EAT THAT, PENGUIN-FUCK!" Lucy shouted.

Tim shook his head and picked up another fire axe from the stairwell. _Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn…_ He stepped out onto the next floor and saw a regular Penguin thug holding a needle.

"Aw man, I can't fucking do it. Shit!" The thug groaned.

"You don't have to, Son," said Tim, carefully approaching. "You have a choice."

"No, I don't. I go freakazoid and kill you fuckers or I'm dead."

"Drop the needle and you can join us. Escape the Penguin's brutal ways. We are not so cruel to our own. What's your name?"

"Garrett… Sounds like dead or dead to me, Mister."

"I am Tim and I have hot coffee upstairs, Garrett," suggested Tim. "Surely you'd rather have that than take a drug that turns you into a monster and slowly kills you. It's been a very cold winter."

Garrett the thug sighed. "Oh man. I've dying for a cuppa joe."

"Drop the needle, let me pat you down, take off your uniform, and I'll let them know upstairs."

"How do I know this ain't a trick?"

"If I wanted you dead, I would kill you here and now."

"Okay." Garrett dropped the needle.

Tim quickly walked over and crushed the needle under his foot. He patted Garrett down for needles and other weapons, took off his coat. "Newt and Nick, I'm sending a new recruit named Garrett upstairs," said Tim over the radio. "Give him coffee and keep an eye on him."

"You got it, Hotshot," said Newt with some strain.

"Newt?" muttered Garrett rolling his eyes.

"He's your boss now," said Tim. "I suggest you give him some respect, Garrett."

"Sure." Garrett headed to the stairwell as Lucy opened the door. Mark was behind her with a big gun. They pointed weapons at Garrett.

"Let him through," said Tim. "We need to go now, Lucy. Mark, I need you upstairs."

"Not a chance," said Mark, frowning. "You're swamped downstairs."

"You're the best and most senior sniper we have. I need you upstairs, now." Tim rushed down with Lucy on his heels.

They reached the kitchens and saw five TITAN thugs devouring the food and tearing the place apart. Several people were dead. Roy and Helen struggled with the remaining kitchen crew.

"Hit the deck!" Lucy shouted, aiming her bazooka at a group of three TITAN beasts cornering the kitchen crew. They ducked and the monsters turned as Lucy fired the bazooka and took two out through a wall.

Tim rushed in to plunge an axe into the nearest monster head as Lucy reloaded with the last of her bazooka ammunition.

 _How many of them are there? If we keep blowing them out with explosives, the entire structure of the building will be at risk of collapse! Perhaps it is best if the people abandon the building completely and leave it to Meredith and me. Where is she?_

Another TITAN charged at Tim as he pulled his axe out of a skull. He rolled out of its path and threw the axe into the back of its head. Lucy dove out of the path of the last monster's charge. Helen fired a grenade launcher after it and it was blasted through a hole in the wall.

"You okay?" Lucy asked the kitchen staff.

"We need help on the ammunition floor!" Felicia called over the radio. "It's a powder keg and we're trapped!"

"Where's Meredith?" Tim asked Roy and Helen.

"I don't know," said Roy, breathing heavily and touching his heart. "But she warned us just before these guys started showing up. I think she's in trouble somewhere else."

Tim closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. _Meredith..._ "Roy, try to get in contact with Meredith or Sonny. We need her here. And check on the status of Radio Tower. See if they managed to get a hold of Bane. The rest of you will follow me to ammunition or head up to the Hotshot floor." Tim continued downstairs with Lucy, Helen, and a couple other kitchen staff members. They attacked all and any TITAN monsters in their path, sending more survivors upstairs. There were ten TITANS on the ammunition floor, terrorizing the staff on the floor as they screamed and struggled to get out of the way. There was a weak spot in one of the walls.

Tim glanced back to his five followers and indicated for them to lower their weapons. "We have to be very careful. No firearms here."

"Then how are we going to stop them?" Lucy asked, exasperated.

"You gonna just axe them all to stop?" One of the staff guys asked jokingly.

Lucy glared at the man. "Don't make me kill you."

"Not all of them," said Tim, noting the weak wall. "Lucy take the fast ones to that weak wall, gain their attention, and tumble out of the way at the last moment. I will cover anyone that doesn't charge."

"Okay dishwashers come on!" Lucy whispered, running out into the open. "HEY, YOU BIG FAT CHICKENS!" She shouted at them as she got near the wall.

Several TITAN monsters looked at them and growled.

"BOK BOK BOK!" Lucy flapped her arms at them in a sing-song voice. "SUCKACOCK SUCKACOCK SUCKACOCK!

"YEAH, CHICKENS!" The guys shouted with her, flapping their wings half-heartedly.

All ten of the TITANS roared and came running right at them.

Tim felt his gut tighten. _That worked too well._ He threw smoke down to confuse the TITAN monsters in their run and hacked at them from behind in case they were too smart to go through the wall like they were supposed to. They crashed through the walls and fell down into the water with Tim's encouragement.

As the smoke cleared, Tim found a half-conscious kitchen man that got trampled, two got out of the way, and Lucy was hanging over the edge. He pulled her up and noticed the water bridge was up.

"Hotshot," called Mark on the radio. "We got a big problem. There's another wave of those fucking TITAN monsters running our way and we are running out of explosive rounds. Bullets don't make a dent."

Tim saw the horde coming alongside regular Penguin thugs. "More ammunition is on the way, Mark," he said on the radio. Then, looked to the ammunition crew. "Take as much explosive ammunition as you can up to the coffee floor and ask for help of survivors. Kitchen people help and get the injured up to the coffee floor. I'm going to take down the bridge."

"I'm going with you," said Lucy.

"No, you and Helen are going to use this hole to fire off as much as you can at the oncoming horde. If they want their weapons back, they can have them."

Lucy nodded with a grin. "All right."

"We'll help them reload and cover fire." said Felicia nodding to her sister Nancy.

"At your own risk," said Tim with a nod before continuing down the stairs where he found a defective monster lying on the stairs. It was half-formed and contorted in pain, groaning like a dying wildebeest. Tim quickly put it out of its misery and continued down. "Talk to me, Roy."

"No luck with Meredith," said Roy, over the radio. "Sonny's trying to track her down. Radio Tower got Bane's help, but we owe him now."

"That's fine. All he wants is the TITAN that caused this problem in the first place. What's your position?"

"I'm headed to the Hotshot floor now. Make sure the girls have enough time to escape."

"You got it," said Tim. He carefully approached the bridge control room. Five, armed Penguin thugs had taken over the bridge controls. They had TITAN on them, too.

"You think Penguin will have someone take over Mt. Olympus?" One thug asked. "Like to keep?"

"Nah," said another. "What would a king want with a rat's hole like this?"

"It would get our foot in between Two-Face and Joker."

Tim pulled out his pistols and prepared to shoot them down.

"I'm surprised Two-Face didn't even put up a fight when we walked by," commented another thug.

 _What?_

"Lucky flip, I guess."

"But isn't he supposed to be working with these rats?"

"He's called Two-Face for a reason, ya know? It's not just the fact that he's half-burned. He'll shake your hand one moment and shoot you point blank the next."

Tim narrowed his eyes. _I might have to pay him back with a visit._

"What if he's looking to make a move while we're making our move?"

"Hah, like Two-Face has moves. We're gonna crush that loser."

"Especially now he won't have the Drifters to back him up anymore."

Tim jumped out and shot the thugs down. He looked back over to the oncoming thugs getting on the bridge as he dropped the bridge into the water.

Several TITAN monsters started drowning while others got back.

"The hell are you guys playing at?" A voice shouted over a Penguin thug's radio.

Tim picked up the radio. "You have no more friends here, Penguin thugs. Go home."

"Oh yeah? Watch this!"

Several TITAN thugs grabbed the other end of the bridge and started lifting the whole thing up out of the water and fighting the brake mechanism.

A couple of the fallen thugs started groaning, still alive. They started transforming into one of the monsters and while more came running across the bridge. Tim immediately dropped a couple of grenades and ran for the stairs where he dropped more grenades to barricade the path upstairs. "Helen, Lucy, prepare to go upstairs with more ammunition!" Tim announced over the radio. "Mark, give me an update!"

"Joker thugs are attacking radio tower at the same time as these Penguin thugs. We're in trouble, Tim. They keep coming and there's only so much ammunition left."

"Then, prepare to evacuate to the building behind us. Protocol Atlantis."

"You got it."

"What's Protocol Atlantis?" Lucy asked as Tim reached the ammunition floor.

"I'm going to blow up Olympus," said Tim, opening up a safe in the wall.

"What?!"

"This base is compromised, so we must move on to Atlantis."

"Which is what? The Radio Tower?"

"I'll explain later." Tim pulled out a detonator from the vault. "But for now, we must evacuate to the building behind us and stand clear of the demolition."

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Helen asked.

"Atlantis can't survive if the information gets out to spies, and its origin is based off of a threat we face in the future… a threat Meredith warned us about." Tim looked back through the hole in the wall to see the TITAN thugs running across the bridge.

"Fear not, my children!" said a man's booming voice. Tim sensed movement and suddenly a bearded man in a toga ran up beside him pointed a strange lightning shaped device at the thugs. "Back to Tartarus, Treacherous Titans!" Lighting shot down to the bridge and flew across the water. It destroyed the bridge and electrified the regular Penguin thugs. He sent down more strikes for the heartier TITAN monsters. "BACK, YOU HEATHENS, IN THE NAME OF ZEUS!"

They all stared at this strange man in shock and awe as he dispatched all oncoming enemies with this powerful staff. There were lightning scars all over his arms and burns on the top of his head.

Tim studied the lightning staff and noted the Greek writing on the side. " _Gifted to Zeus from OLIVIA, daughter of Hephaestus"? But how?!_

The bearded man turned to Tim. "Olympus is safe now, my son."

Tim shook his head. "There's more at the entrance, but attacking them with such power would destabilize the building. We must retreat and destroy this place."

"Destroy Olympus?" said the man, appalled. "The home of the gods? Do not jest, Hermes."

 _Does this man really think he's Zeus?_ "We can't leave them down there and if we attack the building will collapse anyway."

"Then, we shall face them, gods to titans, my boy." Zeus turned to the women. "This is no place for nymphs. Retreat to higher ground and call upon the other gods for assistance."

"Wait a minute, you're Maxie Zeus," Lucy said, pointing at him. "You're that businessman that went nuts and got fried at the asylum."

"Mind your tongue, Nymph, for I am a god." Maxie Zeus adjusted some knobs on his staff. "Let's go, Hermes. Olympus will not fall on my watch!" He ran downstairs.

"Wait—don't!" Tim called after him.

"Fuck him," said Lucy, shaking her head. "If he wants to die down there, we'll leave him to it. That guy is nothing but trouble. Trust me."

"He did just save our lives, Lucy," commented Nancy. "Surely we can't leave him to die?"

Tim sighed. "Evacuate the building." He handed the detonator to Lucy. "When I say clear, you will trigger the detonation… Don't let anyone see you with it. None of you will say a word to a soul about Project Atlantis. Understood?"

They nodded.

Tim rushed downstairs to find Maxie Zeus in the grasp of a TITAN monster. Immediately, Tim plowed an axe into the monster's face and struggled to keep the others back. "Zeus, escape through a window. There's too many!"

"I am the lord of the sky! I run from nothing!" Zeus shouted, blasting TITAN monsters across the room.

Tim frightfully noticed the building trembling around him. It was starting to weaken. He smacked Zeus in the back of the head, pushing him out a window.

"Ready, Tim!" Lucy announced over the radio.

"Clear!" Tim leapt out the window with Maxie Zeus into the freezing waters. There was a loud explosion that sent the building falling towards the west where the highway was. Tim pulled Zeus out of the path of falling debris and swam him out of harm's way. He grappled up to the roof where the rest of the survivors were.

"Holy shit," said Garrett, the former Penguin thug. "Did the Penguins do that?"

Tim was silent as he caught his breath.

"Where do we go now?" One of the people asked.

"We regroup at Radio Tower," said Tim, warming his chest and gazing over to the destruction.

Mark took off his coat so Tim could warm up. "Where the hell is Meredith?" He asked.

Olympus started sinking into the water. "We'll discuss that later, too," Tim replied softly. "Let's go."

Leaving Maxie Zeus behind, they headed over to the Radio Tower to regroup with the rest. A roll call was organized on the wall to discover who was missing, injured, and dead. Half of the group was dead or missing while a third of the remaining were injured.

Tim gazed at the names with a heavy heart, as he rubbed his sore joints. People talked quietly or gazed around in silence. The injured moaned in pain from their suffering. There were nearly fifty of the Drifters still alive. Meredith was still missing in action.

"You gotta talk to them," said Lucy, touching Tim shoulder. "They're all scared shitless and need you to talk."

Tim silently stood up and climbed up a platform. The people turned to him, shushing each other. He gazed around the room, fatigued.

Everyone looked tired and forlorn as he felt, except Bane who seemed to be waiting patiently in a corner.

"A moment of silence for the lives lost… Life is not fair," Tim spoke. "We are fractured and broken. The Queen of the Mile is missing and Olympus has fallen… but it is not over. We are still breathing and have the power to get back up again. We float in these cold times against all odds, drifting to sea to find other horizons. One day we will all part but not today. Today, we regain our footing in the radio tower and heal in the secret safe house of Atlantis… our new underwater base."

People whispered amongst themselves, confused and shocked.

"I will show you the path," Tim continued. "There is a stock pile of supplies that will last us the rest of the winter if you're ready to handle the somewhat claustrophobic conditions in exchange for safety."

"Why didn't we retreat to it sooner?" Someone shouted out.

"I wanted to put off claustrophobic tension as long as I could. I did not expect an attack that ferocious so soon. There were no warnings except for the one Meredith gave us at the last moment. If you have lost faith in the Drifters, leave now, but the rest of you follow me. Bane, I will speak to you soon if you could grant me your patience."

Everyone looked at Bane. He grunted.

Tim nodded and led the people to the lower levels of the Radio Tower where an underwater covered bridge between Mt. Olympus and the radio tower. He led them across as people murmured looking at the plexiglass and steel walls. Opening the door, Tim revealed the dormitory of floors. "If you get lost, look at the directory by the stairs. If you're claustrophobic, you may remain in the lower levels of the radio tower, but there will need to be shifts of people to protect the radio tower from outsiders. I need volunteers for the first shift while the remaining shifts are organized."

A few people stepped forward forlornly with Mark and Lucy. Newt tried to raise his hand but Nick slapped it down. "Your ribs are broken. I'll go."

"Fine, Meanie-Pants," said Newt.

Garrett sighed. "Yeah, me too, I guess."

"Roy and Helen, can you organized future shifts please?" Tim asked.

"You got it, Son," said Roy with a nod.

Tim nodded back. "First shift, follow me." They returned to the Radio Tower, where Bane still waited. Tim approached him. "Thank you for your assistance, Bane."

"Actions of gratitude speak louder than words," said Bane, unfolding his arms. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. It was a map of the sewers with five marked locations. They were near the bases of every dangerous gang. "Bring these five containers to me and I will consider the debt paid."

"This will take days," said Tim with a sigh. "Weeks… maybe months…"

"The sooner you get them to me, the safer your people will be, Hotshot. Hopefully you find Senorita Storm soon. She seemed resourceful." Bane started walking upstairs to the roof.

Tim gazed off, pocketing the map. He picked out a container in his pocket and looked at the small ARACHMECH inside it. It was the one Olivia hid in his ear as Tim entered Arkham City. He opened it up and the spider crawled up onto his shoulder as Mark and Lucy approached.

"Sonny?" Tim called.

"Yes, Tim?" Sonny replied.

"Where is Meredith?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, Sir. I found a blood trail leading to ACE chemicals, but the trail ends there. She was bleeding heavily."

"What was she doing tonight?" Tim asked. "Was she antagonizing Strange?"

"I cannot confirm that," said Sonny, "but she did rescue the Batman from TYGER guards by posing as him while I helped him escape."

"What?!" Lucy and Mark asked, bewildered.

"Is she fucking crazy?" Lucy asked, shaking her head.

Tim waved them down, conveying silence. "Continue, Sonny."

"After that I lost her," said Sonny, "because all TYGER security cameras and communications were distorted to assist in the Batman's escape. Mark's eye may have a better chance of analyzing the environment. It is far more advanced than the cameras and scanners of the ARACHMECHs."

"Can't you tell if she was captured by the TYGERs?" Mark asked. "They should have it in their records."

"The records are currently inaccessible to me. Including this miniature ARACHMECH, there are now only three ARACHMECHs left in Arkham City."

"Can't you just drop a bunch from the sky?" Lucy asked.

"Any planes that fly over Arkham City are targeted by fighter jets under TYGERs employ. Under Gotham's martial law, they have permission to seek and destroy any aircraft lacking permission. Only a madman with a high price would dare to fly over Arkham City. It is a price I cannot pay."

"How about madwoman in a small aircraft who owes _me_ a favor?" Lucy suggested, smirking.

"You know such a person?" Tim asked, almost not surprised.

"Her name is Roxy Rocket. She is an adrenaline junky that loves to fly. Can you cover 10 grand, Sonny?"

"That is feasible," said Sonny. "But if she owes you, why do you need to pay her $10,000?"

"Well, she'll probably need parts. It's a serious discount considering what she usually asks." Lucy looked to Mark and Tim. "If you two want to investigate ACE chemicals while I call up Roxy, be my guest," said Lucy.

Tim sighed and handed the small ARACHMECH to her. "Are you up for it, Mark?"

"I'll sleep when I'm dead, Old Man," said Mark.

Tim noticed Mark was trembling pretty bad and frowned.

"It's honestly not that bad right now," Mark commented flatly. "Let's just go and come back."

Tim nodded and they headed up to the roof. He grappled across the ruins of the bridge and paused to look at Mt. Olympus on the roof of the church.

"Man," Mark commented, shaking his head and picking up a wandering ARACHMECH.

Tim nodded. "Let's keep going." They reached ACE chemicals and looked around the building, following a blood trail up the stairs. They followed the trail upstairs and back down, noticing a dirty residue on different parts of the catwalk.

Mark touched the dirt and rubbed it between his fingers, studying it. "I remember this gunk…"

"Unidentified substance," the ARACHMECH declared.

"Clayface was here," said Mark, looking over to Tim. "He must've came after her, mistaking her for Batman."

Tim closed his eyes. "She said that Clayface was currently allied with the Joker."

"So they got her in the mill?"

"It's the only lead we have now," said Tim with a sigh.

They walked back down stairs and Mark paused, seeing something on the main floor. He walked over to a specific area. "Hand prints on infrared vision. Someone was crawling here… like they fell out of this vat and collapsed here." Mark pointed to a spot where the odd chemical trail ended.

An ARACHMECH picked up some hairs. "Unidentified hair."

Tim picked them up. "They're about her length… Why can't the hair be identified with DNA?"

"DNA analysis inconclusive, partially destroyed from exposure to chemicals."

"We got the information we wanted," said Mark. "Clayface obviously took her down and kidnapped her. Hurt her real bad, too."

"Or the TYGERs picked up what was left?" Tim commented with a frown, seeing some dried boot prints on the floor. They were bigger than Meredith's feet, definitely high quality. "Let's go back and regroup. Perhaps Sonny will be able to gain more information after an ARACHMECH drop. How many can you send, Sonny?"

"An exact amount is still being calibrated with this Roxy Rocket," said Sonny, "but I estimate over 300 can be dropped into Arkham City, depending on Roxy Rocket's cooperation."

"Do they all have self-destruct mechanisms in case of capture or damage?" Tim asked.

"Yes, Sir."

"Have them dropped on top of the Courthouse, the Museum, the Mill, and the Tower. If they are to cause damage, I want them to take out our enemies with them."

"It will be done."

"The Courthouse? Aren't we friends with Two-Face?" Mark asked.

"He let those Penguin thugs walk by," said Tim bitterly. "He will pay for that one way or another." They headed out the door and carefully headed back toward the Radio Tower.

"Can't believe she stuck her neck out for that freak," Mark muttered.

Tim sighed. "Meredith is bolder than she used to be."

"You should've reined her in more, Tim. She needed structure."

"She wouldn't have listened, Mark. If she felt like she was being controlled, she would've ran off. I did my best to help her find discipline and someone to trust, but a torn heart can only maintain balance for so long." Tim paused noticing a green bat-shaped symbol, burned into a wall.

"There's a couple of those around the city every few blocks," Mark commented.

Tim looked around and noticed a camera pointed right at them. He frowned. "This symbol was placed in front of this camera."

"You think that Batman was running around doing this?" Mark asked. "Trying to piss Strange off?"

It clicked in Tim's brain. _Meredith said she was intentionally antagonizing Strange. Could this be what she meant? Is he intimidated by the Batman? He was threatened enough to send the TYGER guards after Batman, hunting him down… Enough for Meredith to want to save him?_

"Let's keep going, Tim," said Mark, shaking his head. "If what you said about Two-Face was right, it's not safe to linger in Park Row anymore."

Tim nodded and they headed back to the Radio Tower.

 _I awoke on a river bank in a dark forest full of moving shadows and whispering trees. It was cold, but I didn't mind it despite my shivers and jerks. I just wanted to get out of this creepy place and find my bearings._

 _The shadows started following me. Frightened, I ran faster down the path to find any way out._

 _Reaching a clearing of stumps, I found skeletons cutting down trees with axes and chain saws. One skeleton gave me an ax and pointed at the creepy trees before continuing its work. Shrugging, I approached the tree and practiced my swing._

" _Don't hurt me," I heard a voice say._

 _I glanced around confused._

" _It's not my fault I look this way. This is the way it's always been for us."_

 _Frowning, I set down my ax and looked at the other trees. They were screaming in pain._

 _A skeleton with muscle on its mouth approached me and pointed at the tree. "It ain't gonna cut itself, Kid."_

" _But it talks," I said, pointing at it. "They're all screaming."_

" _Well, that's what happens when you bring your skin to work. You wimpy young ones bring your skin everywhere you go like a wet, baby blanket."_

" _Fuck you, Mr. Alphabet."_

" _That's fine. We got others dying for this job." He took my ax and handed it to another skeleton._

" _Please, don't!" The tree begged. "I don't want to become a toilet seat."_

" _Too bad."_

 _The new one cut the tree down with ease and shoved me aside._

 _Sighing, I started walking through the hills of stumps to see what I could find. There were a lot of skins on the ground, whispering and lying around the fields of stumps. They looked like crumbled clothing—dirty clothes that someone took off and never picked up._

" _I want to be an artist."_

" _I want to be rich."_

" _I want to build hospitals."_

" _I want to sleep with the best porn stars."_

" _I want to save lives."_

" _I want to write a bestseller."_

" _I want to give a voice to the voiceless."_

" _I want to change the world."_

" _I want to die."_

 _I stopped and looked down at the skin looking up at me._

" _Let's die together," it said directly to me._

" _Can't." I kept walking._

" _Please, help me." One of them grabbed my foot._

" _I want my dream to come true." Another grabbed my ankle._

" _I want this pain to end."_

" _When will this torture stop."_

" _Why are you so selfish?"_

" _Please!"_

" _Please!"_

 _I shook them off and hopped on a stump when I heard thunder behind me. Looking back, I saw the shadows stretching across the hills toward us, sending skeletons running back to grab their skins. Quickly, I ran with them as the shadows started stabbing the skins and eating them. Blood gushed from their mouths._

 _The skins screamed in terror and pain._

" _OH GOD!"_

" _NO! NOT LIKE THIS!"_

" _THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE I WANTED TO DO!"_

" _PLEASE NOOOO!"_

 _I hopped stump to stump trying to get away from everything. For some reason, they couldn't grab me while I was on one of the stumps. Lightning flashed with the last of the screams. The shadows formed into one being, stretching up to the sky with the dark clouds. Green eyes appeared in the sky as the shadows formed with the cloud. With one great hand, the shadow monster took a hold of me and raised me to its face._

" _You all fuel the machine that caused all this destruction," It said with many voices. "All out of hope of building your own kingdoms when there is only one true one that you will never have."_

" _You don't have all the answers!" I shouted at the being. "Don't even lie."_

 _They laughed in unison and lightning ran through me, repeatedly making me scream. In the distance, I saw a great tree with many bottles hanging from it._

 _The monster squeezed me in its grip, and I felt much pain pouring into me. My eyes were wide as I stared into the green eyes of this mighty and horrible monster. The screams ran out of me as my voice went raw and broke. It was breaking me!_

Roxy Rocket was scheduled to make her rounds in a week, and the Drifter gang slowly but surely began healing while mourning the loss of roughly half their gang. Meeting in a conference room, they considered the possibilities of capturing the five containers of TITAN and venturing out into the Mill to see if Meredith was there.

"Those containers are gonna be big and heavy," said Roy, shaking his head. "We don't have the manpower to move them up from the sewers."

"What if we hired Killer Croc?" Lucy asked. "Big, bullet-proof, and probably wants those out of the sewers."

"Heh, you gonna just wander in there and talk to him about it?" Mark asked with a chuckle.

"Why not?" Lucy asked. "I've worked with him back when he was half his size. Hell, Meredith had no problem working with him."

Mark leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Meredith has nerves and bones of steel. Anyone else is more likely to get brutally maimed if not straight-up murdered."

" _I_ can do it," said Lucy, rolling her eyes. "The biggest bitch is gonna be getting down there when he's between the museum and the mill under the processing facility."

"I can escort you there," said Tim with a nod, "but we will need a proper plan before venturing out."

"I just said it would be a bitch. I didn't say I couldn't handle it."

"We don't have the resources for this," Helen said shaking her head. "We've lost Two-Face's support, Meredith's missing, half our men are gone, the rest are injured and devastated. We need to wait longer before venturing out on this."

"What about that Mr. Freeze?" Roy asked. "Maybe he could help us out since he owes us."

Tim sighed. "He's limited when the Joker has his wife. Admittedly, Meredith did discover where she was hidden—

"Then, let's save her," said Lucy. "Have a steady alliance for once."

"A cryogenic tank is about as heavy as a truck and temperamental as an ice sculpture," Mark argued. "And it's in the Industrial District."

"Where's it at, Tim?"

"North Gotham Dock," said Tim.

"That's literally across the water from us!" Lucy exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"There's more," warned Tim. "Meredith said that Professor Strange handed Mrs. Fries to the Joker in order to keep Mr. Freeze trapped in Arkham City. If _we_ take her, TYGER guard might take her back and put her some place we can't find her. We would have to sneak her out and convince Mr. Freeze to stay in Arkham City… Meredith also had the vague idea of disguising a TITAN container as Mrs. Fries and Mrs. Fries as a TITAN container..."

"Nice nice," said Lucy, scratching a cut on her cheek.

"Stop picking," said Helen. "It'll scar."

"My life's a scar, Ma. I'm thinking here... Okay, here's what I got. We sneak in while guards are taking a break outside, cause a huge distraction with TITAN tanks, disguising Mrs. Fries' tank as a TITAN tank, put a shell on the outside. We start running around with a fake Mrs. Fries, when it's a dead body in a cryogenic tank, put it back while disguised as clowns, and in the meantime sneak the real Mrs. Fries with the other TITAN containers, floating them over to Bane's. Nora's tank sinks and goes over to the GCPD _underwater_ —

"Do we even have diving gear?" Roy asked.

"Yes, I used it to make sure Atlantis was secured from the outside," said Tim. "Welding any cracks."

"But wouldn't they pick up divers with heat vision?" Mark asked.

"Not if it was deep enough," said a different voice.

Tim looked over and saw Garrett, the former Penguin thug standing in the doorway.

"Uh, it's mostly a question if you can handle the cold," said Garrett.

"You know about diving in winter waters?" Roy asked.

"Yeah-I used to go freediving for my uncle."

Tim frowned, sensing he was lying.

Lucy frowned, too. "What do I know you from?"

"You pointed a bazooka at me the other night?" Garrett suggested, mildly annoyed. "I'm the new guy, he knows me." He pointed at Tim.

"No, no, I know you from sometime back," said Lucy, shaking her head. "In the city. You give me a bad feeling."

"I used to be a Penguin thug, okay? But I quit."

"That's not it. What's your name?"

"Garrett."

"Last name?" Lucy pressed.

"Minella."

"Garrett Minella…" Lucy shook her head. "Were you a snitch? You remind me of cops."

"I ain't no cop or snitch."

"He's a cop," Lucy insisted.

They all stared at him.

Garrett paled. "No, no, that ain't right. I'm no cop. You gotta believe me."

"If you want to be in this group, you can't lie to us like this," said Tim, shaking his head. "You won't be in trouble. We just want the truth."

"Okay, I'm a cop and I know about diving because I was in the Coast Guard. Detective Garrett Adams."

"Fucking knew it," said Lucy, flinging out her arms.

"So the GCPD _is_ investigating Arkham City?" Helen asked, looking over to Roy with a smirk.

Roy rolled her eyes. "We'll discuss that bet later, Honey."

"Mmmhmm," said Helen suggestively.

"It's a secret," warned Detective Adams, "please understand we're on your side in this mess. If anyone finds out about the others, it will cost them their lives."

"Maybe if Meredith was around," said Lucy, folding her arms. "Technically you're on _Strange's_ side and that don't sit well with me. How about you, Mark?"

"Not particularly," said Mark coldly.

"We've had _worse_ allies," said Tim, resting his chin in his hands. "Not a word leaves this room on Garrett. Agreed?"

They made noises of agreement.

"If he randomly pulls cuffs out, I'm knocking him the fuck out as a reflex," said Lucy.

Roy chuckled.

"Your status amongst the others will not change either," commented Helen. "You do as we say, or you're on your own, _Detective_."

Garrett nodded.

"With that being said," said Tim, "we very well may need you in the transportation of Mrs. Fries when a plan is properly cultivated."

"You got it," said Garrett.

"Good. Did you come here for something?"

"Yes, um, the spider thing said that there is no sign of Meredith in the Mill and there's some complaints of mold and leaks in the lower floors. There's no cleaning supplies."

"I'll take a look," said Roy with a nod.

"Okay," said Garrett as he walked out.

"Who's got Meredith, then?" Lucy asked.

"Possibly the TYGER guard," said Tim, "but we won't know until your friend drops the ARACHMECHs from the sky."

"There's gonna be a bit of a delay on that." Lucy said with a sigh. "Roxy's aircraft is in the shop. It will take a few more weeks."

"Weeks?" Mark asked, astonished. "Weeks of Meredith suffering in the hands of whoever has taken her?!"

"It's all we have right now," said Tim. "Sonny is trying to infiltrate the TYGER database again, but he is having difficulties getting through. I hate to say it, but we might need to ask the Riddler for help."

Lucy shook her head. "Back when we were partners, Olivia was always extremely adamant about avoiding the Riddler. Ask for help once and he's gonna act like he owns our asses for the rest of our lives."

"We already owe enough people," said Roy. "Let's just wait until the spider drop. Meredith is tough as nails and can't die."

"She can still suffer," said Mark. "What if it _is_ the TYGER guards? And Strange is mind-fucking the hell out of her brain."

"He's pretty good at that," commented Lucy, resting her face in her hands, "but it's not like we can walk inside that place and get her out without them dragging her back in."

"We need more resources to do anything," Helen said. "More allies, more power, and plans… Perhaps Meredith will be able to find her way out by the time we get there. Roy's right."

"Let's plan to gain the aid of Bane, Mr. Freeze, and Killer Croc in one swoop," said Tim with a nod. "I hate to say it, Mark, but we cannot plan to save Meredith until Sonny has found where she is hidden. She will have to wait for Roxy Rocket. Lucy, encourage her to move quickly by whatever means you can manage through Sonny. If she needs money for parts or labor… try to speed it along."

The people around the table nodded.

"By the way," commented Lucy. "What happened to that crazy lightning staff Maxie Zeus had?"

Tim tried to remember. "I think he dropped it in the water when I pushed him out the window."

"That thing would be nice to have as a defensive measure. Maybe our divers should dive for it as a warmup for the diving part of the plan?"

"If it still works," Tim said, shaking his head. "It's something to consider."

"That man was a real loony," commented Helen. "Might end up causing trouble for us if he blames us for Olympus' destruction."

"Or we could send him Penguin's way with the lightning staff," said Mark with a chuckle. "Fuck 'em up real good."

They chuckled.

Together, they concocted a plan to move TITAN, rescue Nora Fries, fool everyone else, and making sure that the Radio tower had defenses. The plan would begin with constructing the false shells, communicating the plan with Mr. Freeze and working out a deal with Killer Croc.

 _I woke up in a hammock on the bottle tree. The bottles occasionally clinked together, reminding me of pleasant wind chimes… sunny days at my grandparents'. My body felt horribly sore and I was curled up. I stretched out, feeling better and safer._

" _This is an oddly decorated tree," a male voice commented below._

 _I glanced down and saw a purple squid with white spots climbing up the tree with its tentacles. The tree itself was in vast waters where there was no land in sight._

" _Too bad you aren't a space squid," I said. "Those can fly."_

" _Hmm, I've never tried flying." The squid let go and flew up above me. It had white eyes and hovered nearby me._

" _I must be on some really crazy drugs right now," I commented to myself, feeling a little unnerved._

" _Did you drink all these bottles to make this tree?" The squid asked, holding a bottle up._

 _I shrugged. "I don't think I did, but I suppose it's my dream. For some reason this visual is stuck in my head… ever since that nightmare."_

 _The squid sat down on a nearby branch, wrapping its tentacles around it for security._

" _Are you okay up here? I feel like you should be underwater or something."_

" _Oh, I'm fine. I'm a space squid, correct?"_

" _I guess."_

 _The squid looked at another bottle that glowed warmly. "This looks like a happy memory."_

" _Yeah?"_

" _A little girl being thrown up in the air by her father."_

" _Hmm, reminds me of my dad."_

" _Maybe this tree has all your memories."_

 _I touched one nearby me. Instantly, I saw the memory of me having a mental breakdown at school, biting my hand as hard as I could. Failing too many classes. I can't be in the play and I'm one of the leads. Oh God, I'm so sorry! I can't hold it together! I-_

 _I quickly let go of the bottle. "Some of them are bad memories."_

 _The space squid picked up another. "But some of them are really nice. There's a memory of you and this pretty lady." The squid tossed it over to me and I held it in my hands. I saw Olivia and I lying together, feeling so content together. Looking at it made my chest tighten and drop the bottle._

" _Whoa," said the squid, catching the bottle. "Almost dropped that one."_

" _None of these are worth anything," I said bitterly. "It's all just junk, hanging from this tree… cement blocks on my feet while I'm drowning."_

 _It started storming above, blocking out the sun. Water was dumped from the sky and the shadow monsters came back. The squid looked sad, holding the glowing bottles._

" _I just want to die. I want to forget." Tears ran down my face._

" _Then die," growled the shadows as they formed together and grabbed the tree by the trunk._

 _The spotted, purple squid wrapped some tentacles around me and held onto the tree. The tree was thrown across the ocean and floated in the deep water._

 _I sat with my legs in the water while the squid sat beside me. My tears wouldn't stop coming. I vaguely wondered if the sea was made by my tears._

" _Do you really think the pain stops when you die?" The squid asked. It looked more gray now._

" _Sometimes that belief is all I have left," I said._

" _Is there nothing else to make the pain stop?"_

" _I don't know."_

 _The squid wrapped tentacles around my wrist and it slid into the water. The weight started to pull me in. "Perhaps I can help you find another way?"_

" _What would you know about helping someone like me?"_

" _I've met many sad souls that longed to sink into dark waters to find answers."_

 _I saw my reflection as I was brought closer to the surface of the water. Weakly, I struggled against the squid's pull, leaning back. "You can't help me. No one can."_

" _Let me try," the squid insisted._

" _I hardly know you. You might want to eat me."_

" _I know you eat kalamari but I don't judge you… What do you have to lose anymore, Meredith? I promise I will do everything in my power to make the pain go away… by death or anything else."_

 _My muscles felt so weak and worn, but part of me knew I had to fight. "I've been lied to so much."_

" _I know… I have been, too. That's how I know we can help each other."_

 _Is that supposed to make sense?... I don't know. I can't anymore. I just can't._

 _The storms started coming again and I felt the raindrops. Unable to fight anymore, I let the squid pull me into the water. We sunk fast into the deep water. The light grew fainter and fainter. It was difficult to breathe._

" _I will take care of you."_

Tim headed over to the GCPD to visit Freeze while Lucy headed into the sewers to visit Killer Croc.

"Who is there?" Mr. Freeze called out in a robotic tone as Tim walked into the GCPD.

"I am a friend of Meredith Storm's," Tim replied, stepping out with his hands up.

Mr. Freeze faced him, pointing the freezing gun at him. "Then you can tell me the name of the life she mourns?"

"Olivia," said Tim.

Mr. Freeze lowered his gun. "I see… I thought the Drifters were eradicated when Olympus fell."

"Our numbers have been cut, but we are not finished yet, Mr. Freeze."

"Is Miss Storm still alive?"

"I imagine so. She is a survivor—I'm afraid she has been captured, but we don't know who has her."

"This is most unfortunate." Mr. Freeze gazed off.

"Yes," said Tim, bowing his head. "But until our search pans out, the Drifters have affairs to sort out in these treacherous times. We need allies like you."

Mr. Freeze looked to Tim. "I'm afraid I cannot ally myself with you while my wife remains in Joker's territory. Meredith kindly revealed Nora's location, but advised me against saving my wife until the Drifters arranged a plan."

"That's why I am here," Tim explained. He went on to describe the plan to Mr. Freeze.

"The cryogenic tank was not built to go underwater," said Mr. Freeze.

"That's a benefit to building a TITAN shell," said Tim. "To protect the tank while underwater… We will need your help in making it mobile and moving it underwater during these freezing cold times."

"You're sure this will work?"

"We are professionals, Mr. Freeze. We share in your hatred of the Joker… and well… what other choice do you have?"

Mr. Freeze gave Tim a nod. "Very well."

Tim held out his hand to Mr. Freeze. They shook hands. "Thank you for trusting Meredith and us."

They let go. "Do not make me regret it, Sir...?"

"Tim. I have many legal identities, but I go by the name given to me by my friends… my true and only family."

"Were you an orphan?" Mr. Freeze asked.

"A slave… sold by my parents and passed around to master to master until my last master left me for dead. The original Drifters saved me and brought me to life when I thought I was long dead."

"Have you ever fallen in love?"

"Years ago when I was younger," said Tim, considering, "but it was forbidden. As punishment, I was castrated and I never saw her again. I developed the habit of disregarding any interest or desire I had. All I had was bitter and fading memories."

"For thieves, you seem to have a great deal of humanity to you," commented Mr. Freeze.

Tim shrugged. "We've all faced harsh times… I'm sad you had to face your troubles alone."

"I was always alone until I met Nora. When other people were wary of me, she reached me like the first rays of the sun's warmth after long winter. She made me feel alive."

Smiling softly, Tim looked at an ice sculpture of a female figure. "I hope you get her back, Freeze."

"As _I_ hope you find Meredith," said Mr. Freeze.

They nodded to each other, and Tim departed. "We'll be in touch."

Tim returned to the Radio Tower about the same time Lucy did.

"How did it go?" Tim asked.

Lucy shrugged. "He's willing to go for it for some booze, a clean waterproof mattress, and drawing of the snake lady."

"The snake lady?"

"You know like the circus that used to be here? It's the raunchy part only adults go to. A lady takes off her clothes and does tricks with her pet boa constrictor. Man, I would explode in my pants every time."

Tim chuckled. "You're sure you don't want the drawing for _yourself_ , Lucy?" He asked bemused.

"No, no, it's _his_ idea… but if you made extras, I wouldn't complain."

"I'm sure… Perhaps you could give me a description while I'm drawing later."

"Absolutely," said Lucy with a smirk, "he also mentioned the possibility of using the flooded tunnels that are underwater by the radio tower. We'd have to blow the grates locking him in."

"As long as he doesn't attack us," said Tim, considering it.

"Yeah, he's cool with that, but anyone who walks into his sewers is free game."

Tim nodded. "Do you trust him?"

"As long as he's getting paid, he does his job. When you get down to it, he's a regular dude with regular needs, anger issues, teeth, and scales. You know?"

"I don't," Tim said with a shrug.

Lucy waved dismissively. "You got the humanity thing down. How'd Freeze go?"

"Pretty well… How is Mark doing, Lucy?"

"About as well as you can expect." Lucy lit up a cigarette. "He'll always hit the target, but it won't necessarily be a headshot. He sees stuff with his real eye, and hears things with his ears. Stuff and things that aren't happening or there. He gets the creepy feelings and chills down his spine."

Tim frowned.

"His job is the only thing keeping him together."

There was a loud scream. Tim and Lucy rushed inside the radio tower to see what was going on. A woman was screaming at the sight of Mark as he kneeled on the ground, blank-faced. Blood was trickling out of his ears and his empty eye socket where his real eye should've been. There were blood-covered knives in his hands. One had an eyeball stuck on the blade.

Tim's heart dropped. Quickly, he rushed up to Mark, touching his shoulders and fighting the urge to shake him. "Mark, are you all right?"

Mark blinked at Tim. "I'm okay," he said calmly with a smile. "I don't hear them anymore."

"What?"

"The whispers. The noises that weren't there. I started hearing my mother so I stabbed my ears and took out my worthless eye… but it's okay."

"No, it's not okay!" Lucy shouted. "You lost your hearing and your eye!"

"I can't read your lips when you talk that fast," said Mark.

Lucy called up a medic team. Tim got Mark to lie down on the ground.

"It dot really pain that much anymore," Mark continued, slurring a bit. "I mean bones still ouch from the tremorage, but not much I do about that. And Sonny to fracture another eye that Rox can bring with that spider shipment."

Lucy covered her eyes, anguished. "God, I think he stabbed part of his brain, too."

"It's okay, Loozy."

Tim nodded to Lucy. "Take the lead on the snipers for now, Lucy. I'll watch over him."

Lucy shuddered and walked away, sending the staring snipers back to their posts.

"It's not a big spiel, Tim," Mark insisted.

"I know," Tim said, annunciating for Mark. "But we need to be safe."

"Okay."

The medic team arrived with Nancy at the lead. She worked on stopping the bleeding in Mark's ears and eye socket before taking him down into the medical floor on a stretcher. Tim heard one of the snipers firing off. It was Lucy as tears ran down her face and she gritted her teeth.

Tim gazed back at the eye stuck on the knife on the ground. Picking it up, he tossed the knives in a burning barrel. His only interest was getting them out of his sight.

"Hey, uh, Hotshot," one of the snipers called.

Tim walked over to the sniper, who was a young man he didn't recognize. "Yes, Son?"

"We uh didn't announce this over radio, but Mark caught Claything trying to sneak in as Meredith Storm not long before this."

"You mean Clayface?"

"Yeah. Mark immediately knew it wasn't her, and tried to interrogate it. He asked it where Meredith was, and it laughed in his face. Then, Mark blasted that thing out the door and it didn't come back."

Tim folded his arms. "What do you mean _blasted_ it? Clayface doesn't feel bullets."

"With Zeus' staff thing that the divers brought back. It's over there on that crate."

"Why was none of this reported on radio?" Tim asked.

"Mark told us not to, said you'd all be back soon enough for him to report."

Tim pat his shoulder. "Thanks, what was your name?"

"Harry."

"Thank you, Harry. Hang in there."

"You got it, Sir Hotshot."

Tim walked over to the crate and picked up the staff, studying it. Then, he picked up his radio. "This is Tim. I would like to make an announcement. Whenever one of us leaves the base and returns, they must speak a password or endure an electric shock in order to enter. The password will be determined and recorded by the sniping crew for every person that leaves. This is for our safety. Carry on." Tim set his radio down and returned to his office downstairs in order to finish the plans for stealing the TITAN and Mrs. Fries' tank. Idly, he looked at his drawing of Meredith, entwined with Olivia on a couch. _Where are you, Meredith?_

 _My eyes slowly opened. It was so dark. I could see glowing things moving around. Space? Underwater? There was an odd echo, but otherwise it was cold and quiet. I struggled to swim up to the light. As I got closer and closer to the surface, I noticed sharks with stripes swimming all around. I remembered how a friend told me tiger sharks had more testosterone, making them more aggressive._

 _They all turned to face me and I knew I was in trouble. Before I could think, they all came at me. Their jaws sank into my flesh, ripping up my body. My vision was clouded by all the blood, but I continued to struggle. I bit, kicked, and punched, fighting to see the surface again. Finally, I reached the surface and breathed feeling better. The air was very cold and it was snowing heavily. There was still no land in sight._

 _I floated up to the top of the surface, able to stand now. Lightning flashed and a silhouetted humanoid figure landed on the water across from me. It stared at me as the water started freezing over._

 _Other shadowy figures surrounded us, but were focused on me._

 _Hatred burned inside my chest as I looked at the shadows that long tormented my dreams. My wounds closed into stripe-like scars and I fought all of them off as they pounced on me. I cut them to pieces viciously and without regret. With a wave of my hand, they all collapsed. The significant shadow raised his hands and took lightning from the sky, blasting me with electricity as hard as he could. I caught the blast and forced it back as hard as I could. The resounding blast knocked me and the significant back, but we came running back in to each other to rip each other to shreds._

 _He was pretty fast compared to the others but so was I. I hungered for his blood-whatever it took to make this torment to end. Then, I slammed him down into the ice as hard as I could. Blood trickled from his head and we fell forever like the water dried up and disappeared. There was a splash and we were in the water again._

 _The squid approached, pulling me off to the side to help. The shadow came back and bit the squid. The poor creature flailed in pain._

 _Enraged, I became a shark, did a swimming charge, and ripped the shadow's head off with my teeth. The shadow's corpse floated up to the surface and dissipated under the moonlight._

 _I ran my hands along the squid's injury healing it up. The squid turned blue and wrapped a large tentacle around me. I realized it was bigger than before._

" _Why are you blue now?" I asked, scratching my neck._

" _I change colors to survive," the squid said. "Is there something wrong with blue?"_

" _No, it's my favorite color." I gazed up to the moonlit surface as snowflakes landed on my face, despite being underwater._

" _Are you feeling better now?"_

" _I feel cold," I said, putting my arms around my torso. "I'm not complaining—it's just how I feel." It was so quiet-that silent winter feeling… so peaceful._

" _Some of the toughest creatures are born in the cold darkness."_

" _True," I commented. "Lucky them."_

" _Let us descend again. You are nearly ready."_

 _I nodded._

 _The squid dove down pulling me along with him. Much to my surprise, the snowflakes descended with us. "It is your guilt that weighs you down, Meredith. You feel such guilt for feeling inadequate. You fear to let everyone down when they held such high expectations for you. You also feel bitterness for the weight placed on your shoulders that sabotages your desire to please those that mean the most to you."_

" _Sounds about right," I said sadly._

" _All you require is some guidance. Tell me everything I need to know and I will help you become a success beyond belief." The tentacles wrapped around me again. "We will go deeper still." He swam along and dove us down into a deep trench._

" _I'm so tired," I said weakly._

" _Then, rest. You are in my hands."_

" _You mean tentacles…?" I drifted off._

On the night of the heist, a team led by Lucy helped Killer Croc move five TITAN containers in the sewers while a diving team worked with Tim and Mr. Freeze on removing the underwater sewer grates. Helen led a team of fake clowns, staging a movement of false TITAN containers to the North Gotham Dock building. Helen's team would take over the building and hold. Roxy Rocket would also be flying across the sky dumping spiders everywhere, along with Mark's new robotic eyes. Roy had taken the lead of the snipers while Mark was recovering from his recent self-mutilation.

As Helen held up the North Gotham Dock; Tim, Killer Croc, and other divers moved the TITAN products underwater into Bane's base. Mr. Freeze assisted with Mrs. Fries' mobility and transformation into a TITAN container. Lucy and her crew headed back into the Joker sewer entrance and slipped past the clown thugs to give Helen's crew cover fire. Roy's crew offered sniping assistance while warding away anyone who tried to sneak up on the Radio Tower.

Lucy's crew retreated back to the Amusement Mile, Mr. Freeze dove underwater, and Helen's crew started dumping the fake containers of TITAN into the water. One of the fake tanks was Mrs. Fries. Helen's crew would escape across the cranes to reach Bane's place. The diving team would move Mrs. Fries into the flooded part of the GCPD. Mr. Freeze stabilized Mrs. Fries in the lowest unflooded floor. Then, the team of divers retreated before Mr. Freeze froze the water in the building, blocking out any future divers. Killer Croc returned to the sewers and the divers returned home.

As Tim returned and gave a password to the doorman, he noticed that Helen and a few others were lying on the floor, bleeding and shivering violently. Medics were attending to them. Lucy looked pale, gazing at her unconscious mother.

"What happened?" Tim asked, jumping in to help the medics take care of the injured and shivering. Two were beyond help as the blood pooled beneath them. Helen wasn't looking too well either with a bullet in her chest and leg.

Roy was kneeling beside his wife, holding her head up. "They got hit and fell into the water while we were distracted by that idiot Zeus."

Tim narrowed his eyes. "Where is he?"

"Blasted him out the door with his own staff," said Roy bitterly, "but I doubt that's the last we'll see of him."

"We need to go to the church for Helen," said Dr. Nancy to Tim. "Now."

He nodded in approval.

"You five on me," said Roy, pointing out some snipers. "Angel, stay."

"Fuck no, Pa," said Lucy, folding her arms.

"I need one hard ass keeping things tight around here and I'm counting on you. Now stay." Roy lead the team over to the church, leaving Lucy behind to lead the snipers.

She bit her lip, and it started bleeding.

Tim walked over to her, wiping off his bloody hands as the other medics took the stable downstairs. The three dead remained on the floor. He touched Lucy's shoulder.

"Don't say anything," said Lucy coldly.

Tim nodded and removed his hand from her shoulder.

Lucy picked up a radio and barked for the recovering shift.

Sighing, he looked down at the three dead and noted their names on his death list before going into the funeral procedure of sending the bodies into an abandoned building nicknamed "Death Toll". As Tim finished and announced the dead over the radio, Mark came walking into the sniper arena with bandages on his ears and over his eye socket.

"Is my stuff here?" Mark asked.

Tim shook his head. "I was just about to ask Sonny." He picked up the small ARACHMECH and contacted Sonny.

"73% of the ARACHMECHs survived the drop," Sonny announced. "I now have countless monitoring points in Arkham City and we have cut down the numbers of different gangs. Mark's items are on the way. An experimental device has been created for his hearing impairment."

"Good," said Tim. "Where are they?"

"The helicopters noticed the package so I had to hide it away in an alley in Park Row. I suggest you bring Mark to go get it personally."

"I got it," said Lucy, smoking a cigarette. "Come here, you psycho," she yanked on Mark's sleeve and picked up a wandering ARACHMECH on a wall.

Tim watched the two leave and surveyed with the snipers, anxious about his lieutenants being gone. He rested on the roof. "Sonny, did Roxy make it out okay?"

"I am currently analyzing the TYGER's data to discover the answer to your inquiry. All I know is that she made it out of Arkham City… Request denied."

"What request?" Tim asked, confused.

"A Batcomputer request to gain access to my network in order to gain intelligence on Arkham City. Without Meredith Storm's permission, I must deny access to all outside parties."

"Not even if I give you permission? They are on our side, Sonny."

"Permission must be granted by Meredith Storm."

Tim sighed in annoyance. Mark and Lucy came running back, dodging bullets from rogue criminals wearing jumpsuits. Tim picked up a sniper rifle and aimed at the front-most thug in orange. Then, Mark stopped and shot down each of the orange jumpsuits with a handgun.

Tim frowned, surprised, and noticed some clown snipers to the south. He alerted the fellow snipers and started shooting them down to cover Mark and Lucy.

Once they were clear, Tim headed downstairs to see Mark's new eyes. They almost looked like regular eyes until Tim looked up close and saw the cracks. Mark also had a new headband around his head.

Mark was grinning mangled ear to mangled ear. "Say something."

"Nice headband," said Tim.

"Yes it is," said Mark. "My new eyes do advanced speech to text that transfers to headband and then my brain. I am ready to work, Boss!"

"Get to it." Tim smiled at Mark and handed his rifle.

"Hell yeah," said Mark, climbing up to the sniping gallery. "Hey, I have new eyes," he told the snipers.

Lucy stared after Mark, concerned. "His brain is really blowing out," she murmured to Tim.

"At least, he's happy," said Tim.

"He's manic. I swear, getting machine parts is his new high. Do we know where Meredith is yet?"

"Located," said Sonny through the small ARACHMECH. "Maximum security isolation cell in the processing center. Status: Unresponsive and wrapped in bandages."

"Any notes in the system?" Lucy asked.

"I can read some of Professor Strange's notes if you wish? There are interview tapes that are still being processed and unscrambled."

"Yes," said Lucy.

"'Meredith Storm? aka Kindling Thief. A keen escape artist and thief with strong sense of empathy that allows her to understand the minds and pinpoint the weaknesses of her enemies and friends alike. Despite empathy for humanity, she is willing and capable of killing anyone in her way or threatens the lives of her friends. This was demonstrated in her assassination attempt on my life. Storm suffers from depressive episodes and low self-esteem that sometimes hides as humility. She feeds off the approval of her peers. Sometimes, she is even willing to appeal to the Batman's misguided ideals because of her father's strong morals. Her past before her 23 years is a mystery to the legal system. All I have is her word that is sometimes bent in her favor. Side Note: She may know more than what she is telling if she is intelligent enough to discover Batman's identity.'"

"Well, suck my dick," Lucy muttered, astonished. "She knows who Batman is? And Strange is cool with it?"

"They both figured it out," said Tim, gazing off.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at Tim. "You know, too?"

He shook his head. "I didn't ask."

"Why didn't she tell us? Why is she so protective of that bastard when all he ever does is get in our way and keep the bad people alive?"

Tim folded his arms. "We'll ask when we get her back… but we need a plan to get into that facility and get her out."

"Well, remember those flooded tunnels Croc told us about?" Lucy suggested.

 _I was suddenly in a vast darkness of space. The stars were bright in the universe as the gigantic squid flew around me. "Together."_

" _Yes," I agreed, "but you seem so powerful without me… You keep growing bigger and stronger while I stay the same."_

" _I build my power so that it may flow into you, making you more invincible than any of the gods."_

 _I heard screams in the distance. People crying out in agony as planets started to shatter like glass._

" _What makes their lives any less significant than ours?" I asked, feeling weak with pity._

" _All souls have an equal meaning, but those that fight the hardest are the ones that live and thrive the longest."_

" _Survival of the fittest? That's so cruel."_

" _Only because your generation was taught that we should strive for equality and politely find what you want instead of fighting for what you want. When you start to see that, you will see no more pain… only failure and success… They have failed as you can see… will you fail?"_

" _I will not fail as long as you believe in me," I insisted._

 _His tentacles wrapped around my arms. "Good." The squid spun me around and threw me back down to Earth and I landed on the top of Wonder Tower. Fire was raining from the sky all over Arkham City._

 _The fire slowly turned into rain that froze in long streaks that became strings where spiders hung._

" _Meredith, Meredith," they called to me. "Are you all right?"_

" _Go away," I said, pushing them away._

 _A large spider descended from the sky, wrapping me up in webbing._

" _Ach! Stop it!"_

" _Meredith, wake up! Please!"_

" _Don't use her voice!" I shouted, trying to cover my ears. "You aren't her! You aren't Olivia!"_

 _A great eye of the squid appeared in the sky and the spiders disappeared into the dark in fear. "We will save you, Meredith," whispered the spiders._

 _Tears ran down my face, and I felt the tentacle touch my face. My hands weakly touched the tentacle._

" _You are mine."_

Tim, Mark, Lucy, and Roy sat silently at Helen's bedside, contemplating their next move for rescuing Meredith. Helen was stable, but comatose from her injuries.

"I say we run a distraction while a few people sneak in through the tunnels," said Lucy. "They won't know what hit them in all the chaos."

Roy held his forehead as he spoke. "There's no way in hell that we can save her."

"Oh come on, we could outfox him!" Lucy protested.

"Sure, maybe we could get her out, but we have nowhere to run. He'll know that the Drifters took her—who else would risk their hides? He might not know about Atlantis, but he'll sure as hell know about the Radio Tower. He'll squeeze any alliance he thinks we have until he gets her back."

"Or maybe he'll think she's had enough and 'whatever, I'm done with this bitch anyway'," said Lucy.

Tim scratched his beard. "He's right. Meredith was scared of Professor Strange for good reason."

"Apparently not enough to prank him, and you still haven't said what she exactly did to piss him off, Tim."

"I'm not sure myself, but I think it had something to do with the bat symbols that are painted in front of every TYGER camera in Arkham City."

"So what? Strange is scared of the bat symbol?" Roy asked with a raised brow.

"Who knows?" Tim said with a shrug. "But that combined with rescuing Batman certainly angered him enough to lock her up."

"And put her in some sort of drugged up state that won't respond to Sonny," Lucy added.

"What if she's around the bend now?" Roy asked. "What if he's converted her into one of those TYGERs?"

"She wouldn't be locked up in a cell if he converted her, Pa. Hell, she's probably still fighting him."

Tim closed his eyes. "Or she has just been beaten. Her heart has been so weary lately. Losing Olivia and living through Arkham City has taken its toll on Meredith. If he is clever as she thought, he may have taken advantage of that."

Lucy put her hands on her hips. "Which is why we need to get her out and completely disappear to Atlantis where they can't find us. We can hold out for a few months, long enough for Protocol 10."

"People are going to get severe cabin fever," said Roy shaking his head.

"Well, they'll have to suck it up if they want to live," said Lucy. "Unless you want to leave Meredith to Strange?"

"Why don't we just hijack one of them helicopters and just leave?"

"Can _you_ fly a helicopter?" Tim asked.

"No, figured one of you yahoos did."

Everyone shook their head.

"I can fly a helicopter," said Sonny through an ARACHMECH. "But I am positive they would shoot us down the instant they knew it was stolen. Then, they would recover Meredith's body from the wreckage."

"They don't know she's immortal, though," said Lucy.

"Apparently they do, I have analyzed Strange's data and he knows about her immortality as well as her vast knowledge about this universe."

"So he probably knows about Atlantis, too," said Roy, sighing.

"I actually didn't tell her about Atlantis," said Tim, shaking his head.

"Why wouldn't ya?"

"We just never got around to it. She was gone so much."

"So we got _that_ on our side," said Lucy. "We just have to hide and never come out."

"I don't like it," said Roy, shaking his head. "Surely they'll be able to detect the heat signature underwater, especially if they're restlessly scoping out the area."

"Sonny, would you say that Professor Strange would restlessly waste resources trying to locate Meredith?" Lucy asked the ARACHMECH.

"The likelihood is 81%," said Sonny. "Meredith is bountiful source of knowledge and wisdom as well as an undying fighter. Most importantly, Meredith knows how Professor Strange will die and fail. Without her, he will have no chance of escaping said fate."

"What's the remaining 19% for?"

"Professor Strange's overconfidence, accidental death, and the possibility of him finding someone with as much (if not more) knowledge as Meredith."

"That's a possibility?" Lucy asked frowning.

"It is a theory that cannot be proven or disproven," Sonny explained.

"What is the possibility of Strange getting Meredith back from us?" Mark asked.

"62% likelihood."

Mark sighed. "You know what? I don't care. I'm fighting for that 48%. You know how many times we've beaten the odds? How many times she saved our lives?"

"Correction, you have _38%_ chance of success," said Sonny.

"Still fighting for it," said Mark. "Sonny has infiltrated the place and we share a pair of eyes." He pointed to his robotic eyes. "Meredith would fight through hell and high water if it was any of us."

"Well, it helps that she's immortal," Roy commented.

"She still feels a lot of pain and faces the risk of being captured alive like now. Sure she's got more endurance, but she doesn't have an easy escape like we do. Fuck it. I'm saving her with or without your help."

"Right with ya', Pal," said Lucy, smirking.

Roy sighed. "I'll stand with you, Angel Cake, but there's a good chance that saving her would kill us all."

"She's good as family, Pa. She didn't have to come back when Strange threatened our lives."

"She might not see it that way if we're all dead," commented Tim. "She may see it as her fault."

"So don't die," Lucy insisted. "We're smart enough to keep our heads above water for God's sake. Let's plan this right and save her."

Roy looked to Tim. Tim glanced at Mark and Lucy who were also waiting on him. _God have mercy._ Tim nodded. "Let's do it."

Roy would maintain position at radio tower. Tim and Lucy would head in through the sewer tunnels. Having shaved his beard, Mark would sneak in amongst the guards and let Tim and Lucy in. He escorted them through the strong hold to reach the isolation cell guarded by two guards that were now to be relieved.

"Open the door," Mark commanded as a lieutenant. "I need to make sure they're not looping our security footage again."

"Has there been a breach?" One of the guards moved to open the door with his keycard.

"One of our silent alarms. Might be nothing, but just in case."

They opened the door and flashed their lights on Meredith who was lying in the middle of the floor in a circle of blood.

"Huh, that's odd," Mark commented, walking inside. He knelt down and looked at Meredith's bandaged face. She sighed very softly as Mark touched her forehead. Then, he pointed his light to the destroyed grate in the ceiling caused by Sonny. "Oh no…" he said aloud. "This is a cold decoy. Call a Code Gray! Meredith Storm has escaped through the vent!"

"What?!" The guard exclaimed.

"This is a fresh corpse with brown eyes and brown hair! You two!" He pointed at Tim and Lucy. "Take this thing to the morgue for analysis." Mark pointed at the guards. "Why are you still here? Call the Code Gray!"

"Yes, Sir!" They saluted Mark and called the Code Gray. Alarms started blaring. Tim and Lucy grabbed a body bag and picked Meredith up. Mark relayed his report over the radio to the captain as five more guards came to analyze the escape scene.

Tim glanced at the walls and noticed a lot of writing and drawings made from blood. The most prominent words were "Life is Everything" and "Death is Nothing". He saw illustrations of squids, shadows, and skeletons.

"That's a lot of blood," Lucy commented lowly to Tim.

"Keep moving. We have a job to do," said Tim. They carried Meredith in the body bag down to the morgue. Mark eventually caught up, picking up another body bag and putting it on a cart.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, confused.

"They're o-onto me," said Mark, fighting his shakiness the best he could.

"But you pulled it perfectly."

"Too perfect, I know guards. Keep doing what you're doing. I got an ace."

"This isn't the plan," said Tim, shaking his head.

"I'm improvising. Trust me. Just get her out and I will take out my own way, Brother." Mark looked eyes with Tim.

Tim understood, his heart sinking. _On your own terms… was this your plan all along?_

"If they're onto you, you won't be able to go out the same way you entered," protested Lucy. "You gotta follow the plan."

"Sonny will help me out." Mark pushed the corpse on out of the morgue.

Lucy tried to stop him, but Tim grabbed her wrist. "He's going to get himself killed, Tim!" She hissed, trying to shake him off.

"I know," said Tim.

She stared at Tim.

"It's what he wants. Whether we like it or not, he is dying… and there's nothing we can do to stop that. At best, we can respect his wishes."

Lucy looked after the direction Mark went. "Come on, Cryogenics? That Lazarus thing?"

Tim's eyes widened.

Lucy folded her arms. "Yeah, I heard you and Meredith talking about it. Thanks for the heads up by the way."

"It's a great secret that can get you killed. It heals wounds, illnesses, and even death. What Mark has is embedded in his DNA. It would never cure his insomnia, any more than it would cure Killer Croc's skin. Even if it gave him more time, the assassins would hunt him down for using it. I barely escaped with my own life over a drawing, Lucy."

Lucy shook her head. "You let him kill himself, but you won't let us have the Mad Hatter."

Tim snorted. "I didn't expect you to listen to me."

"Well, I did because I fucking respected you."

Tim put Meredith in a large duffel.

They heard gunshots a roar in the distance. It sounded like a TITAN monster. The whole building started shaking.

"Oh shit," said Lucy, touching her heart.

 _Mark? God, your heart will probably explode in minutes!_ "Let's move." Tim lead her back to the sewer tunnels and they escaped. They returned Meredith to Atlantis, setting her beside Helen's bed. Together everyone checked in with Sonny on Mark's status.

"Mark is deceased," Sonny confirmed. "His heart exploded after five minutes of being exposed to the TITAN formula. He left several bombs on his body that mangled his corpse and anyone that came close to his body. Twenty-seven TYGER guards are now dead. Thirty-two are injured. Five assassins were amongst the injured. They are attempting to analyze who he is, but I have removed Mark from their system."

Lucy bowed her head in sorrow. Roy put an arm around her, bowing his head, too.

Tim gazed at Meredith as she breathed softly, still unaware of the world around her. Carefully, Tim removed her bandages on her face and saw five, long and deep scratches on both sides of her face. They went from her cheeks to her jawline.

"Isn't she supposed to heal any wound?" Roy asked, frowning.

"Those look like fingernail scratches." Lucy looked at Meredith's fingers and saw broken but sharp fingernails. "So anything she does with her hands and teeth stay longer?"

"I guess so," commented Tim.

"Shit," said Lucy.

"Yeah, shit shit shit," said Roy, shaking his head.

Meredith opened her eyes, and everyone jumped a little. "Where am I?" She groaned with a ragged voice. "I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

"Yes, you are," said Lucy, leaning forward. "You're here with your friends, Mere."

"Lucy? Is that you?"

"Yeah? Can you see me okay?"

Meredith blinked. "I—yes. My brain is all fuzzy."

"You're still pretty drugged up," said Tim, looking at her enlarged pupils.

"Tim?"

"Yes."

Meredith blindly glanced around. "Roy?"

"Hey, Kiddo," said Roy, patting her shoulder.

"Where's Mark and Helen?" Meredith asked.

"Helen's next to you in another bed," said Tim. "And Mark... Mark's gone."

Meredith closed her eyes and tears came out. "Is it my fault?"

"No, Sweetheart," said Roy. "It's not your fault. It was just his time."

Lucy sighed, gazing off.

"I'm sorry," said Meredith, covering her face. "I know it's my fault."

"Meredith, look at me," said Tim, touching her shoulder. "It is absolutely _not_ your fault."

"Where's Professor Strange?" She asked with a sniff, covering her face.

"Don't worry. You're safe from him now," said Lucy.

"No, no, he's helping me," Meredith insisted. "He's making the pain go away."

"He was taking advantage of you, Meredith," Lucy implored. "You know him better than any of us. He is a monster! God knows what he's been doing to you."

Meredith struggled to get up, still in denial. "He made the pain stop. Please, find him. I need him. I can't do this alone."

Lucy protested. "Meredith—

Tim touched Lucy to silence her and leaned Meredith back down. "Shh," he soothed. "Don't worry, Meredith. Just get some rest. We'll call him and let him know where you are. I promise."

"Okay," said Meredith, turning on her side. "Thank you."

Tim saw scratches on the back of her neck. There were definitely needle marks here and there. Gently, he patted her head.

Roy and Lucy were wide-eyed and dumbstruck by what Meredith said.

Tim called Newt over to watch Meredith and led Roy and Lucy into a more private area.

"Why'd you stop me?" Lucy asked, annoyed.

"She wasn't accepting the truth," said Tim. "As long as she's calm, she won't do anything rash. Perhaps, she'll be better when the drugs wear off."

"What if she isn't?" Roy asked. "What if she's permanently dependent on Strange?"

"I refuse to believe that," said Tim. "She's in there somewhere. All she needs is time away from him. Time to recover her ordeal… Even if we have to restrain her."

"Maybe she just needs what I needed?" Lucy suggested.

Tim and Roy looked at Lucy, confused.

Lucy continued. "Remember? The Mad Hatter told her to reset the brain. We could use Maxie Zeus' staff on her!"

"We have no idea what the proper voltage, current, or anything was for that," said Roy, shaking his head. "We could muck up her brain even worse."

"Mad Hatter is out there in Arkham City! We could ask him."

Roy sighed. "As much as I'd love a piece of that little shit, we're supposed to be in hiding. And won't Strange put together that we're gonna try to fix her head the same way she fixed yours?"

"We gotta try," said Lucy.

"Only if it comes to that," said Tim, shaking his head. "For now, we're lying low and waiting for the drugs to wear off. Maybe figure out a special room for her. Lucy, look into that for now. Roy, seal the doors."

Tim returned to his new office floor, containing his new drawings, a desk, and a couch. He made an announcement over the radio. "May I have your attention, please?... We have recovered Meredith Storm, but in the process we lost Mark the Marksman. He sacrificed himself by using the TITAN drug to lure the attention of the TYGER guard. In the process of murdering and maiming guards, his heart exploded… Many of you did not know him before he was ill, so you purely him as a grouchy old sniper… To be fair, he was a grouchy old sniper to all of you… but I had the opportunity to know him as a brother… He is the only reason I am alive today. He taught me how to live as a free man when I was a slave for almost my entire life. He also saved Meredith's life when she was struggling to survive in the streets of Gotham City. It was from him that I learned the power of charity… that a little kindness can go even farther than you imagine… a kindness you mean from the bottom of your heart—not a tool to impress someone—but a kind thought because everyone has a rough day. Maybe if I help this one person, the world will not feel so terrible."


	12. Chapter 12: Life is Everything

CHAPTER TWELVE: LIFE IS EVERYTHING

 _I awoke on a cot to see a large peacock with a fiery color pattern. "You need to follow me," she said._

 _"Aren't you male?" I asked, confused._

 _"I am whatever the fuck I want to be, you three-pound Imp. Now follow me. The cuddlefish told me so."_

 _"I think you mean cuttlefish, and I only know the squid."_

 _"Look, do you want your medicine or not?" The peacock asked._

 _"I guess?"_

 _"Then follow." The peacock strutted out of the room and I followed reluctantly._

 _There was a shout. "LUCYFER WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"_

 _"THIS!" Lucyfer shouted_

 _I reached the doorway and felt a horrible pain in my head that knocked me to the ground._

I awoke with a start, feeling horribly tender. Lucy and Tim stood over me. I held my pounding head with weak arms, groaning as I felt the crispy skin that was my face.

"Meredith, are you all right?" Tim asked, kneeling down.

"Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy," I said with a sore throat. My arms fell to their sides. Everything hurt. I did not want to move.

"What's your opinion on Hugo Strange?" Lucy pressed, holding an odd staff in her hands.

My face wrinkled at the thought. "He's a horrible bastard that deserves to die in the fires of Mt. Doom?"

Lucy screamed in ecstasy and grabbed a hold of me, hugging me tight. None of that felt good. "You're back!" She shouted, half-dancing.

"Stop screaming!" I croaked, wincing. "Everything is super-sensitive."

"I love youuuuuuu," whispered Lucy, still hugging me.

I squinted. "I love you, too, but everything fucking hurts. What the hell is going on?"

"Lucyfer hit you in the face with Maxie Zeus' staff," murmured Tim shaking his head.

"And it worked!" Lucy hissed.

"It did?" I asked, confused. "I can barely move." I paused to cough and clear my throat. "My entire body hurts, all my senses are overwhelmed, my face is extra crispy."

"Oh come on, you'll heal up. I just had to reset your brain because you were driving me crazy."

"Why?"

"Don't you remember?" Lucyfer asked, dismayed. "You kept insisting that Hugo Strange was your friend—that he was helping you take the pain away."

"What?" I asked, horribly confused.

"He caught you after you painted those bat symbols all over Arkham City and saved Batman," said Tim. "You don't remember what he did to you?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "There was something about a space squid, a tree with bottles, drowning, striped sharks, malevolent shadows… and the pain… oh the pain…" I coughed. "People without their skins."

"Let's get you downstairs." Tim gently picked me up and started carrying me down some stairs.

"Where are we?" I asked idly.

"Radio tower."

"What about Mt. Olympus?"

Tim sighed.

Lucy went on to explain everything that happened while I was gone. The attack of the titans, Maxie Zeus' appearance, the loss of half our people, how Mark cut out his eye and ears, the heist for Mr. Freeze and Bane, their rescue of me, and then she faltered when talking about Mark after that.

"Mark sacrificed himself," said Tim, sadly as we reached an infirmary area.

My heart sank and I closed my eyes.

"He didn't have to die like that," said Lucy, biting her cheek.

Tim laid me down on one of the beds, and one of the doctors rushed over to tend to my face.

"Just give her some ice and painkillers, she's going to be fine," Lucy insisted.

"I think I know better enough," said the doctor. She was female, oddly familiar.

"Do I know you?" I asked, trying to remember.

"I'm Felicia's sister Nancy. You rescued me from Mr. Hammer, remember?"

"Ohh," I said, vaguely remembering.

She quickly put ice on my face and I couldn't see anymore. "What the hell did you do?" Nancy asked scoldingly to someone else.

"Fuck off, Dr. Nancy," said Lucy. "She's all better now."

"She fired Maxie Zeus' staff at Meredith's head," said Tim.

"Jesus," said Dr. Nancy, checking my vitals.

"Hey, Meredith," said Lucy. "Are you happy to know you're back to normal and don't think Professor Strange is your best bud?"

"Yeah," I said under the ice.

"That's all that matters to me." I heard her walk away. "The rest of you can fucking eat me."

"Ow," I said as Nancy felt and moved different parts of me. "Everything is sore and hurts, but my face is starting to feel better."

"How bad is the pain on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst."

"I'd say a 9 because I can't move for shit without feeling nauseous."

"Okay. I'll just set up an IV in your arm."

"Whoa—no needles!" I tensed up and moved my arm away. "Don't you have any pills I can take? Hell maybe I'll drink the bag—No just nix it all together. I'm sure someone else needs it more than I do."

"You've gone against all sorts of fiends, but you're scared of needles?" Dr. Nancy asked confused.

"I'm not scared," I insisted. "I'm just tired of being stuck by needles, okay?"

"Just one last time," Tim coaxed Meredith, taking her hand. "Just to ease the pain and help you heal."

"…Don't let go of my hand." I closed my eyes and let Dr. Nancy take my arm.

As I squeezed Tim's hand, it took her a couple tries as expected, but she got through. _Goddamn I hate my rolling and invisible veins._ "I can't believe he's dead," I said sadly, still holding Tim's hand.

"I know," said Tim with a sigh.

"That was really touching the other day, Hotshot," commented Dr. Nancy. "You give a nice eulogy."

"I wish I could say it would be my last."

"Don't we all?"

"I really hate that his insomnia twisted him up so bad," I said, feeling my chest tighten up. "He was so sweet before it started happening."

"What's your favorite memory of him?" Dr. Nancy asked.

I considered, putting my hands on my abdomen. "It was about a week after he peeled me off the street and patched me up. I didn't move much from the couch, because I was tired and hurting. Mark coaxed me into going an errand. All we did was ride around on his motorbike, taking in the sights around town and the countryside. It was the first time in a while that I started seeing pretty things after all the ugly things I had been through. Every time he smiled or laughed, my heart would melt."

"Remember that time in Metropolis?" Tim asked. "He took you and me dancing at that club?"

"Dancing?" Dr. Nancy asked with a chuckle.

"He _loved_ to dance," I said, smiling softly. "It was too bad that Parasite crashed the party."

"What kind of dancing?"

"Like this," said Tim.

I heard him moving around and moved the ice pack off my face with a shaking hand to look at Tim.

He was dancing around, re-enacting Mark's movements.

Dr. Nancy chuckled as Tim took her hand and started dancing with her. Tim spun her around and lifted her in the air. As he brought her back down, they were suddenly caught in each other's gaze.

"Wow," said Dr. Nancy.

Then, I saw Newt come running over. "Meredith, I heard you were you again—Oh Sweetie, your face…"

Tim and Nancy separated awkwardly.

Self-conscious, I put the ice pack back on my face. "Uh-huh. Extra crispy."

"I'm sorry." I heard Newt walk over. "I didn't mean to freak out. I just didn't realize…"

"Eh, it's okay. We were talking about happy Mark memories because I just realized he's dead because of me. How are you, Newt?"

"Hey, I'm like everyone else. The sooner we bust out of this freaky funhouse, the happier I'll be—but you poor baby. Are you okay?"

My head started feeling fuzzy. The pain was numbing out. "I think the painkiller is kicking in."

"Go ahead and rest, Meredith," said Tim, touching my arm. "Hopefully, you'll have healed by the time you wake up."

"Mm-kay," I said, falling asleep.

 _I gazed up, seeing the sky. Olivia was typing away on her computer as she sat beside me. She had no glasses and her curly, pink hair was pulled back. Her hazel eyes were magnificent. She looked so soft and beautiful. Suddenly, she stuck a USB cord into my ear. "You got viruses messing up your memory. Why did you click on that ad for conditioner?"_

 _"I thought it was you," I said. "I'm sorry."_

 _"Gotta stop looking for me when I'm right here, Baby." She shook her head, typing away._

 _"But you're not here… This is just another drug dream." I gazed up to the sky._

 _"Hey, I'm right here."_

 _"You're dead."_

 _"So what? I still made you carrot cake."_

 _I saw Death in the distance. "Stop defying the laws of life."_

 _"Eat me," said Olivia. "I'm not leaving her." She set her computer down and wrapped her arms around me. "I will always love you, Babydeth."_

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. The ice pack was gone from my face. For the next several days, I struggled regain the strength I had lost and wandered about the building. Atlantis made me feel restless and claustrophobic. Others felt the same, but we had to hold out for Protocol 10.

I couldn't remember anything of my time with Strange other than the strange and blurred dreams. The cuts on my face from dragging my fingernails down my skin confused me. They slowly healed and closed up into subtle scars, a lot slower than the burns on my face that healed after a few days.

One day, Lucy led Dr. Nancy and me up to the radio tower to get some air away from Atlantis. We played cards for a few hours. Lucy was pretty quiet.

"Lucy are you okay?" I asked.

"I… I'm just worried about my mom," said Lucy.

"Yeah, hopefully she'll be better once we all get out."

"Mm-hm."

Dr. Nancy glanced over to Lucy and back down at her cards.

I glanced at Lucy as she avoided my gaze. She looked like she was gaining a little weight.

 _Maybe her metabolism is slowing with age… I mean it's not like she's ridiculously gaining—just filling out._

We played a few more hands and Lucy sighed, picking up the cards.

Dr. Nancy cleared her throat.

"Okay, there's something else," said Lucy, annoyed.

"Yeah?"

She looked me in the eyes with her dark ones. "You can't tell anyone though."

"Absolutely."

Lucy closed her eyes. "I brought you up here—My mom's still sick—so I don't have a ton of other women to talk to that I trust."

"Yeah?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Go on, tell her," said Dr. Nancy.

"Okay, Jesus," said Lucy, annoyed. "I'm pregnant."

My eyes widened. _Here? Now? With who?... Mark? Don't tell me it's Mark's!_

"It's Mark's," she said flat out.

"Oh my God," I said, putting my hands to my mouth.

"Don't freak out," said Lucy, holding up her hands. "I'm freaking out enough as it is!"

"I'm not freaking out. I'm just surprised."

Lucy groaned, lying on the floor. "Seriously? With how much I've been hanging around him?"

I blinked trying to swallow this. "I—isn't he supposed to have a lower sex drive?"

She laughed. "He was sexed up out of his motherfucking mind if you didn't notice! He was so fucking crazy that he could barely contain himself. I mean that was why he attacked you when he was drunk! That man was losing his mind with rage and horn—I was one of the few people who could actually relate to him—understand what he was going through—handle his crazy."

I took all this in, astonished. "How far along are you?"

"Six weeks, I think." Lucy sighed. "He told me if it happened that I should get rid of it by any means possible… He didn't want a kid born to this crime family—born with this curse of death by insomnia. I agreed with him. I mean what am I gonna do with a kid? … But now it's happened." Her voice grew sad. "The last part of him is growing in me. When we talked about it, I was so sure… but now, I just don't know anymore. I didn't think I loved him, but now he's gone I miss him so much. He was so much fun."

"You two fought all the time," I said, shaking my head.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Lucy commented.

"You want to keep it?" I asked, surprised.

"I think so," she said, touching her abdomen. "I want to give it a chance in spite of all the odds against it… but I'm not sure if I can do it justice if my mom doesn't make it… I can't—without her… Just tell me what _you_ think."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I mean Dr. Nancy says I should do what I want. My parents are pro-life so they'd say keep it. What do you think, Meredith?"

I shrugged, uncomfortable.

"Just tell me your opinion straight up," Lucy said. "No filter. Give me your absolute honesty, Man. I'd do it for you."

"I—uh—It's your baby… I never really saw you as a mom, but you can be if you want to—would your parents end up raising it?"

"I'd need their help at least," she said.

I considered. "I mean that's gonna hurt when it comes out. There's going to be tons of dirty diapers and crying, screaming, and vomit—and then it starts running around, it'll learn your sassy mouth—it'll get into all sorts of trouble—break stuff—it will have math and science homework—art projects—it will learn how to drive a car and go around drinking with its friends. It will want your attention 24/7—all the information you can offer—it will fight with you and scream it hates you—it will ask you everything about Mark and your past—it will scream for toys and candy and cars—Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of babies and kids personally—they scare the hell out of me—my own mother said I'm 'the kind of person that would probably eat her kids out of spite'."

"Really?" Lucy asked, bemused. "I figured you were the really nurturing kind."

I chuckled. "No, I'm a crazy aunt. Pregnancy reminds me of the chest-bursters from the Alien movies."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm sure I want to remain ignorant," said Lucy with a chuckle. "So, you're a no?"

"Do whatever you want—I'm just not going to be a ton of help until it gets old enough to think and drink."

Dr. Nancy chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not big on babies either."

"Come on, you gotta babysit a little, Aunt Mer," teased Lucy.

"I'm not good with kids," I said, shaking my head. "I got a business to run… and didn't you say you wanted to be a rockstar again?"

"Yeah, that's true," she commented. "Shit… oh, by the way, I've been working on a new song… Mark the Marksman."

I snorted. "You've been playing with that for a while now… I remember you came up with it while he was throwing apples at you."

"What for?" Dr. Nancy asked.

"I forget," said Lucy.

"You blasted him with a bass guitar while he was sleeping," I said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah. That was hilarious." She laughed. "Man, he did sleep a lot though. It was so weird to me until we found out about his FFS—God, I have to pee." Lucy got up and hobbled to a bathroom.

I glanced over to Dr. Nancy. "So she told you first?" I asked.

"Didn't have to," Dr. Nancy said, shaking her head. "I've seen enough pregnant women during my internship to know better. I asked her about it and she was absolutely horrified that I knew. Threatened my life, telling me to keep my mouth shut—then she started asking for advice. I told her to tell you in the very least."

"Why me?"

"As far as I can tell you're the closest female friend she has, and she needs to talk to someone about this other than me."

"Hmm." I rolled my neck.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Nancy asked.

"Sore, but I'm improving." I stood up and stretched my legs. "How are you and your sister doing?"

"Felicia's going through pneumonia right now," said Nancy with a sigh. "Her lungs have always been in bad shape during the winter. I keep telling her that smoking doesn't help."

I shrugged. "My little brother always had weak lungs, too."

"Oh, I didn't know you had a brother."

"Yeah… on the other side."

"What's his name?" Dr. Nancy asked.

"B—

Suddenly, TYGER guards crashed in through the windows and surrounded us.

Dr. Nancy immediately dropped to her knees with her hands on her head. "Oh God, no."

A red beret strode up to me, holding up a radio. "He wants to speak with you," he said.

"What?" I blinked.

"Motherfuckers!" Lucyfer shouted, launching a bazooka.

I dove down and shielded Dr. Nancy from the blast.

The TYGERs ducked down, too. Hiding around the room from Lucyfer's range.

"You aren't taking her again!" Lucyfer shouted, picking up a machine gun.

I saw the radio on the ground and held it to my ear. "Hello?" I answered.

"Call Smith off, Meredith," said Professor Strange. "I wish to negotiate with you."

"Negotiate what?" I asked.

"No negotiations! No prisoners!" Lucyfer shouted.

I struggled up to my feet. "What do you want?" I asked Strange. Dr. Nancy rushed over to Lucy's side.

"Return to me and the Drifters will be spared from Protocol 10," said Professor Strange.

"You don't even know where they are."

"I know about Atlantis."

"Well-why would you offer to spare them after all the trouble?" I asked.

"It is the least I could do after all you've done to help me, Meredith," he replied.

I frowned. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because I haven't asked my guards to kill Angel Smith and Dr. Nancy Veritas for taking an offensive stance. I am also giving you a choice rather than taking you by force. I only wish to borrow you for this evening. Afterward, you and your friends will be free to leave this facility."

I frowned.

"Whatever he's saying, don't listen!" Lucy scathed. "He's a liar and a monster."

"The monster is lawful evil, I know," I said. "But he says that he'll spare the Drifters if I meet him tonight."

Lucy frowned. "Why the hell would he spare us now?" She asked, exasperated. "He has to kill us all to prove himself!"

"Maybe he's taken my advice—he's preparing to lose," I said. "Because the Demon is impossible to impress unless you're Batman."

"What if it's all just a trick to get you back? Is Mark's sacrifice nothing to you?!"

"You all are everything to me… It's a chance I gotta take, Lucy." I tossed down smoke bombs and grappled out the window. The TYGERs started heading upstairs. We rode the helicopter up and out.

Lucyfer ran onto the roof as we took off staring after us.

I turned away and faced Wonder Tower in the distance. We landed up front where my escort was waiting. Injured guards and I hopped out of the helicopter. The escort led me inside the building towards the elevator where Professor Strange was waiting. There was a soft smirk on his face.

We entered the elevator with the guard, standing next to Professor Strange. The elevator doors closed and we began to rise to the top of the tower. We did not look at each other.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

"How do you mean?" I replied.

"Muscle weakness and your relapse in your attitude."

"A desperate act to fix my mind somehow worked," I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "And it's not weakness so much as soreness. I could kill every man in this room before we reached the top."

The guards turned to look at me.

"But you won't," said Professor Strange. "Because I'm sure you're curious as to how much of a difference you have made in my plans… if I will meet the same fate nonetheless."

"Why am I here?" I looked to Professor Strange.

"I want you to see it through." His glasses briefly glinted in the light as the professor turned and looked at me with his dark eyes. "I want you to see what you are capable of."

I gazed off. "I already knew I was capable of massacre… getting caught up in self-righteous bullshit."

In the corner of his eye, I saw him smirk. "I suppose it all would be trivial to you, being a goddess amongst us."

I scoffed. "You already have the upper hand. Do you really need to mock me, too?"

"I wasn't mocking you."

"Right."

"…she just took off with them," said Lucyfer to Tim, tearfully.

She was more emotional than Tim was used to. Tim gazed off to Wonder Tower, fatigued.

"Tim, you gotta save her," said Lucyfer, grabbing his shoulders. "I gotta bad feeling deep in my gut. Strange is gonna brainwash her again. I just know it! Why the hell would she listen to him?"

"Old habit now," said Tim, shaking his head. "I'll make sure he fulfills his promise, but you and Roy must keep everyone down below. They cannot panic."

"Is it happening tonight?"

"Meredith said it would happen in the night of Batman's presence. The entire prison buzzes about him. He even visited Mr. Freeze not too long ago… So take everyone into lockdown now."

"But he knows where we are," said Lucy. "Shouldn't we evacuate?"

"To where, Lucy?" Tim asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Anywhere where he doesn't know where we are?" Lucy suggested.

"We may not have time. Hold to the original plan and I will make sure he does not target Atlantis." Tim grappled off towards Wonder Tower and took a ride on a helicopter circling around the tower. Tim hopped onto the tower and started climbing up it skillfully. The helicopters started targeting different parts of Arkham City.

"Warning, automatic turrets have been placed all over the tower to deter any climbing," Sonny announced.

"Take them out, Sonny," said Tim. "I need to get up there."

"In progress."

Tim sat down on the rampart and waited, watching ARACHMECHs attack the turrets all over the tower. As each level was cleared, he kept climbing up higher and higher to reach the top. As he reached the observation deck, he heard gunfire and saw the Batman fighting off gunmen. Tim leapt into action and helped Batman take down the rest.

"Who are you?" Batman asked.

"I am Tim of the Drifter Gang. He has Meredith up there. Things will move faster if we work together." He continued his climb to the top and Batman took his own path.

They arrived at the top around the same time. Meredith and Strange were in a glass room. She was sitting in the chair while he was observing the monitors and glancing around the floor.

"Is she with him?" Batman asked.

"I don't think so," murmured Tim. "But be cautious." He sent ARACHMECHs after any automatic turrets in the room. Then, they started taking down guards one-by-one.

When all the security was down, Batman started hacking into the door. Tim approached behind him.

"Tim," said Meredith, surprised to see him.

The door opened and Batman shoved Strange aside.

Tim rushed up to Meredith, touching her shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. He just wanted an audience," said Meredith.

Batman walked up to the computer. "Oracle shut it down."

Tim noticed Meredith looking at Professor Strange. The professor was holding something in his hands and he pressed several buttons on it. With each press, a large explosion started flared up in different areas of Arkham City.

Quickly, Tim rushed up to Strange and struggled to get the detonation device out of his hands. Tim head-butted Professor Strange and ripped the device away from him.

The professor stumbled back into a wall as blood trickled from his head.

Meredith stared out over Arkham City, speechless. The entirety of Park Row was on fire with half of the Bowery and even more burning in the Amusement Mile.

"With that, you can destroy the rest of your enemies, Tim," said Professor Strange, indicating to the device.

"I think we've all had enough," said Tim, handing the device to Batman.

Batman disabled the detonation device and casted it aside before walking up to Professor Strange. He yanked the professor up by the collar.

"Get your hands off me," growled Professor Strange.

Batman made Strange face the window. "Look at what you've done."

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Professor Strange shoved Batman back. "I have won. I am Gotham's savior. I, Hugo—

Ra's al Ghul suddenly ran Strange through with his sword.

"—Strange?" The professor collapsed to the floor as Ra's stepped forward and sheathed his sword.

"Your part in this is over, Professor Strange," said Ra's al Ghul. His eyes glowed green while encircled by shadows of fatigue and age. Ra's al Ghul's gray-streaked black hair was slicked back creating horn-like points at the sides of his head. His goatee framed his mouth and chin. Tattoos on his arms softly glowed green from his likely recent use of the Lazarus Pit in the depths of Wonder City. His green and black armor and cape was decorated with a dragon coat of arms.

Tim and Meredith tensed in fear. Batman knelt down to elevate Strange's head as the man bled out on the floor.

Strange struggled to speak. "But I did everything you wanted—

"Ra's, he was your puppet, why?" Batman demanded.

Meredith crept up to Professor Strange while Batman and Ra's spoke. She plucked Strange's keycard off his coat pocket, but Strange grabbed her wrist.

"M-Meredith," Strange struggled. "Black and white striped away until there is nothing but gray."

She blinked, seeming confused.

Tim frowned, not sure what Strange was trying to do.

"Life is everything," said Strange. "Death is nothing."

 _That was written in blood all over her cell… What does it mean?_

Meredith pulled her hand away. "Just shut up." She quickly got up.

"Meredith? Meredith Storm?" Ra's al Ghul questioned, recognizing the name.

Meredith looked at him. "Leave us alone or I will hunt down every last one of you assassins." She turned away and pulled Tim along to the elevator. She cleared up the security with Strange's card and started pulling the elevator doors open.

"Please just give me more time," Strange implored.

"I have given you endless resources to complete this task, and you have failed to defeat Batman."

Professor Strange glanced over to Meredith, almost a pleading look in his eyes.

Tim felt some pity for the man but nowhere near enough to help him. He could see that Meredith had the same feelings as she looked at him. Then, she nodded to Tim to hop onto the cables.

Tim leapt out onto a cable and Meredith followed. The doors slammed shut behind her.

"He didn't recognize me," Tim commented, almost relieved.

They started climbing and sliding down. "We're not out of the woods yet," said Meredith, shaking. "The top of this tower is about to blow."

"What?" Tim asked, startled.

"He created it as a countermeasure if Ra's al Ghul betrayed him."

"Do those three men die up there?" Tim asked.

"Professor Strange and Ra's al Ghul. Batman always survives. Now hurry!"

They hurried down, reaching the elevator midway and then there was a sudden explosion above. Meredith shoved Tim inside the elevator car and followed him inside.

Tim felt debris smack his head before he fell unconscious.

When Tim awoke again, Meredith was wearing a TYGER uniform with a gray beret while pulling him aboard a helicopter.

A TYGER waved to her and she gave him a thumbs up. There were five guards on the helicopter. The vehicle started flying over Arkham City and one of the guards was stitching up Tim's head.

"What is going on?!" Tim shouted over the loud propellers.

"We're heading to the TYGER base!" Meredith said, touching Tim's chest.

"Why?! We can't leave the others behind!"

"We need a bigger vehicle! I'll explain when we get there!"

Tim waited until they landed on the base. Meredith helped him up and they got off the helicopter. A few red berets were waiting for them.

"We have a boat ready for you, Miss!" One of them declared. "But we won't have much defensive coverage with the liquidating company."

"We'll just hurry then!" Meredith started running over to the docks. Tim and the red berets followed. They got aboard a large boat and the small crew helped them take off.

"Why are they taking orders from you?" Tim asked Meredith quietly.

"When I was messed up in the head, I was considered one of them."

"Even though you were in locked a cell, wrapped in bandages?" Tim asked.

"Yeah. It's just whenever I put on this uniform they think of me as a second-in-command."

"Why would Strange give you that kind of power?"

"I guess he trusted me?" Meredith shrugged. "Look, just radio our friends down below so we can make this quick and not get bazooka'd by some random clown."

Tim did so and the boat slowed up as it approached the radio tower. He got inside while the guard stood guard.

They evacuated the remaining Drifters, but Tim could not find Lucy, Roy, or Helen. "Newt, where are the Smith's?" Tim asked.

"Helen started crashing," said Newt. "So they ran her over to the church."

"Meredith, take these people to safety. I will go to the church!"

She tossed him a radio. "Call us in when you're ready." Meredith commanded her TYGER crew to return to base.

Tim ventured over to the church to search for the Smith's.

For hours I waited for Tim to call back, then I heard him. "Meredith, I cannot find them, but I can't stop looking. In one week, meet me at the park where I took pictures. Otherwise, you can save Victor and Nora. I am giving the radio to him now."

"Copy that," I said automatically. I brought the boat in to pick up Victor and Nora Fries. Some of the Drifters joined up with him as I gave him the boat. The remaining TYGERs and I dispersed.

In one week, I waited at Felix Park on a bench. It was chilly, but things were starting to warm up. Olivia's house was quarantined under a large white tent.

 _Some parts of that night are still such a blur… I haven't heard from Tim or the Smith's in days... There is definitely a warrant for my arrest, but as far as the FBI knew I was still in Arkham City—possibly dead._

Suddenly, I saw a small ARACHMECH land on the bench. It crawled up my shoulder to whisper in my ear. "You are surrounded by the authorities, Meredith. You must drop a smoke bomb and follow me into the shrubs."

I did so and ran into the shrubs. In the smoke, I dropped down the chute with the ARACHMECH. We went down and down to the very bottom, landing on a pile of mattresses. Dim lights started coming on and I saw tall walls of computer technology that were hundreds of feet high. I had no idea what they were for. _Security? Memory?_ There were several different robots tending to the walls.

"Follow me," called the ARACHMECH. It led me through a maze of walls and took me up some stairs. We reached a large room with a great supercomputer the size of a pipe organ that had large cables feeding downstairs and up.

The super computer's main screen turned on and showed a clip of Olivia. I realize that I had started to forget things like the shape of her face, but I will always remember her pink hair, dark skin, and hazel eyes with those glasses.

 _Olivia adjusted her glasses on the screen. She was sitting in the lab. "Hey, Meredith, if you're seeing this clip, then I am dead and you just found the supercomputer in the negative levels." She flung her arms up and wiggled her fingers. "Ta-da. This is SuperOlivia—call it whatever you like." Her arms went down to her sides. "It's my magnum opus. A supercomputer with all sorts of capabilities that your layman brain can't even handle, Man! Since AI is such a bitch and I always predicted I would die young, I just mapped my brain onto this and modified it from there. It is with all intents and purposes a gigantic robotic version of my brain. The memory function is improved. It is a tireless machine that works day and night. Most importantly it will love you and look after you like I would if I were still alive. It keeps a lot of my biased opinions and quirks as well since you always insisted that humanity was so important. Different voice options are available if it's too creepy to use my voice. And... I'm sorry I'm dead—shit happens." She shrugged. "Don't blame yourself. If something happens, it's probably because of the stupid supports upstairs. It's the last time I go cheap on underground hideouts—that's for damn sure. I love you, Babydeth. Don't worry about monogamy with the computer it's self-aware and content to be your friend and business partner. Also, I'm gonna launch the remains of my house in thirty seconds. Sonny is gonna become a space cadet. Why? Because space data and fuck the police."_

A timer appeared on the screen counting down in thirty seconds. Olivia's clip disappeared.

"Um, where is the cat, SuperOlivia?" I asked the supercomputer.

"The cat is in the upper floors," said SuperOlivia with Olivia's voice. "It is safe."

"And what voice options do you have?" I asked, uncomfortable with hearing Olivia's voice.

I returned to the park, wearing a disguise that had a blonde wig and circle glasses.

Tim was waiting on a bench with his eyes closed. There was a cut on his face and dark circles under his eyes. He was wearing a shabby coat and a baseball cap.

I sat down beside him and took his hand.

"Did they find you here?" Tim asked, squeezing my hand.

"Yep… Sonny helped me escape. Did you find them?"

"No," he said, letting go of my hand. "… and no one else is bragging about taking them or killing them, so I left to assume that they got out."

"They're a hell of a family unit," I said with a soft smirk.

Tim smiled. "Yes. I do envy Lucy on that. Family that stands with you in good or bad because they love you with all their heart."

I gazed off. "I'm sorry for how I've acted through this whole Arkham City thing. It was pretty bitchy of me to constantly flake out like that."

Tim shook his head. "Twice, you gave yourself up so Strange would spare our lives. You rescued Lucy, helped create allies, outwitted our enemies, and gave us crucial information. Out of everyone, it was you and Mark that suffered most in that hellhole. You have nothing to apologize for. I only wish I knew how I could've helped ease your suffering."

I shrugged. "You did what you could. I hardly know how to handle it myself… What are you going to do now?"

Tim considered. "In Arkham City, I was approached by some assassins. They said that Talia was dead and the Demon's resurrection was failed—that he's in a state where he could barely speak, let alone move. Do you know anything of this?"

I shook my head. "No… but it makes sense considering that Clayface's composition probably poisoned the pit… but I always thought there was more than one."

"Not that I know of… but these assassins said that there is another daughter… Nyssa Raatko… she's gathering followers in order to take over the League and put the Demon out of his misery. They said Nyssa would be willing to pardon me if I took their side."

"Really?" I commented, raising a brow.

"Do you know anything about Nyssa?"

I scratched my cheek. "I know that traditionally she and Ra's did not get along well. In the comics, he left her behind in a Nazi death camp. She had her own Lazarus pit that could be used multiple times, while I assume others could only be used once?... But the backstory might be different in this world. She's probably cool, but I can't guarantee it... What do _you_ think?"

"I am deeply considering it. What are you going to do?"

I shrugged. "Probably resume business. Arkham City burned a mountain of money. If you want to join forces with Nyssa, you have my full support. Only ask and I will hunt for his head. Just know that I am also being hunted by the government for the dragon incident."

Tim blinked. "But you didn't build those machines."

"My partner did and that's good enough for them. Some people showed up while I was waiting at the park earlier… Just a mild annoyance for a while until we figure out some way to make them buzz off."

"We?"

"Sonny and me," I said with a shrug. _I'm not sure how you're gonna handle the idea of Olivia imprinting her brain on a bunch of machinery. I'm hardly handling it myself…_

"Hmm."

We sat quietly for a bit.

"Up on the tower… when Strange said those random phrases to you, do you know what they meant?" Tim asked.

 _"Black and white striped away until there is nothing but gray… Life is everything. Death is nothing."_

I frowned, puzzling over it. "No, but I definitely felt funny after he said that."

Tim folded his arms. "'Life is everything. Death is nothing.' That was written on your cell walls in blood."

"It was?"

"You were lying on the ground in a circle of blood, too."

"Hmm." I tried to remember. "Those words… Death told me those words."

"Death?" Tim stared at me.

"He was in the first drug dream I had. The world was collapsing. He told me that when I asked why life was so cruel. He explained that life was everything—joy and sorrow—pleasure and pain… Death is nothing… a true neutrality of life. It was stuck in my head. I hungered for neutrality—whatever it took for the pain to stop."

"You would rather feel nothing—escaping pain by giving up pleasure?" Tim asked.

"Sometimes," I hugged my sides. "I just see no meaning in it. All I have to live for are the little joys and the friends that need to survive and thrive… Other people find purpose in extending their legacy to the world by creating more life, teaching others how to thrive, helping others, discovering all there is to discover, revolutionizing, or otherwise leaving a mark no one will ever forget. All marks fade with time. Only a handful are really remembered. I'm not a creator, a teacher, a scholar, a doctor, or any of those other things… I'm just a jack of trades that's occasionally a good friend—a vagabond with hardly anything to live for—constantly caught up by an existential crisis. I have no legacy except my struggles. I am the cow skull in the desert—the thing that tells you not to go the way I did."

"Do you really need a reason to live?" Tim asked. "Life is miraculous. There is so much wonder and adventure to it. The pain teaches lessons—raises the stakes so it's all the more important we succeed and give it all... make sure the world is better off than it was before you existed."

I sighed. "That's nice until you wonder if the world was better off without your existence."

Tim looked at me. "Meredith, surely you aren't that blind to all the good you've probably brought in your lifetime? Think of every person you've helped—even made smile or laugh—people that are probably still joyful to know that people like you exist."

"Yeah, I guess," I said with a shrug. "I'm sorry I'm not more positive—that I'm always so unhappy."

"You do have plenty to be unhappy about, Meredith, but those things do not make you worthless burden to anyone but yourself. You are a plague to your enemies, a gift to your friends, and a wonder to all… like all the storms in the sky."

"Sometimes, I'm a gift to my enemies, too," I said wryly.

"Life is funny that way," said Tim, gazing off.

A jogger ran by and we sat silently.

"But you have nothing to prove to anyone but you. You need to reach an inner understanding and appreciation with yourself. Find a way to forgive."

"I'll try," I said with a sigh. "But until I figure how the hell to do that, I cherish my friends." Looking to the distance, I smiled softly.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Tim smile softly. "And they'll cherish you."

I leaned against his shoulder and noticed a few flowers were starting to bloom in the trees.

The End?


End file.
